A Little Bit of Mischief
by AsgardainAvenger
Summary: Loki's kids were monsters. Odin made sure that nobody knew that. A curse was put in place but since Odin's passing, the curse has been lifted. Two of the four children would stop at nothing until they find their younger siblings and make things right. (During Thor Ragnarok)
1. Chapter 1

**I am back! I wanted to write this story for the longest time and now I finally can do it! This story delves deeper in the past of Loki's kids and hopefully makes sense for those who are wondering how and why Loki has kids that are never mentioned in the MCU. I didn't really like how they made Hela to be Odin' daughter in Thor Ragnarok because in the myths _and_ the comics, Hela is _Loki's_ daughter. I came up with a whole backstory to explain why Thor and Loki never knew about the kids and to connect their past to the present. And without out further ado, I present to you:**

**A Little Bit of Mischief**

**Chapter One: Of Course, He's a Horse**

Darkness, pain, and then…nothing. Nothing yet, everything. His mind went clear, the most focused that he had ever been before.

The normal, overwhelming scents of the royal horse stable that he had grown used to were suddenly harder to ignore. The musty smell of hay a few days old filled his nostrils. Someone's stall was in desperate need of a clean. Hunger pangs rumbled in his stomach but the mushy oats in his trough no longer looked appetizing.

Something seemed off.

Everything that seemed so normal, so clearly defined, no longer felt the same way, no longer clear. He stopped taking pride in his role as the king's steed. The other horses were jealous of his status but looking different made him an outcast of the herd.

The other horses knew their purpose and had simple minds but he felt different. Not only did he have four extra legs then a regular horse but he could also think like a person.

A person. He was related to someone famous, wasn't he? The king? Possibly. Somehow, someway, he needed to find out.

All he needed to do was remember. Memories that he didn't know he even had started flooding his brain. Memories of two kids, a young boy with black hair and bright green eyes and a taller, older boy with golden blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes that were crinkled up in laughter. A small wolf pup who bounded through the garden, chasing a butterfly. The feel of a snake curled up on the top of his head, the snake's little red tongue flickering in and out of his view as he took in his surroundings. An adorable baby girl, giggling as the dark-haired boy held her and brushed her wavy, black hair away from her face. Their names escaped him; however, his own refused to come back to him.

He could remember these people, these creatures, but he couldn't remember his name. His name. What was his name? It started with an 's.'

S-S-Sleip-Sleipnir! His name was Sleipnir and he was much more than just a horse with eight legs. He was much more than just the king's steed; he was someone else, someone who could do special things that a regular horse could not.

Asgard. He was on Asgard in the suddenly stifling royal stables. The other horses were eating their lunch of blended oats and wheat or grazing outside in the pastures.

Sleipnir watched a rat climb up the leg of his food trough and nibble on his food. Good, at least someone liked it.

Feeling suddenly thirsty, Sleipnir walked over to his water trough. Taking a few sips of the dirty water refreshed him a bit but his reflection caught him off guard.

The stable boy had braided part of his mane, keeping the hair out of his hazel eyes. His black mane faded out to brown, standing out against his light gray coat. His teeth were surprisingly straight and pearly white, unlike most of the other horses.

His reflection looked much more detailed now that he could think clearly. And he thought he looked rather well, considering that he never knew what he looked like before.

Sleipnir huffed, sending little ripples in the water to flow away from him. His horse stall felt too cramped and the smell of the horse next to him started to give him a headache.

Do horses get headaches? Do horses even question if they get headaches? What was happening to him?

Awful, he felt awful. His stomach suddenly rolled and he tried to push down his breakfast so that he wouldn't get sick in his cramped stall.

His life suddenly felt boring. It was the same thing almost every day, Wake up, eat, run around in the grazing pasture, eat, run around some more, go to training, eat, and then go back to sleep. Every day the schedule was the same. He usually got to go out more than the other horses because King Odin took him whenever he went on a diplomatic trip or for some other reason that the king needed to travel somewhere.

Being only fourteen, he was rather young for the other horses although most horses lived to be twice his age. He knew that the system for ages between the Aesir and horses was different but he felt like his age coincided with the Aesir.

A loud 'neigh' shook Sleipnir from his thoughts. A stable boy with dirty blonde hair and a splash of freckles on his face was trying to calm down the horse across from Sleipnir's stall.

Adella, that was the mare's name. She was about the same age as him, well, at least, rather young compared to the rest of the herd. Her blonde mane stood out against her brown coat. Sleipnir always had a small crush on her but he still felt bad for the stable boy when Adella gave him a kick on the shin for trying to put a saddle on her. The boy crumpled and dropped the leather saddle.

"Damn you, stupid horse," the boy cursed, rubbing his shin where a hoove-sized bruise was going to start to form.

Adella snorted and gave Sleipnir an annoyed look. Years of living here let Sleipnir know that Adella didn't like being ridden; she enjoyed pulling carts instead. For some reason, saddles scared her but pulling heavier weights did not.

The boy gave up and closed the latch on Adella's stall door. He limped out of the stable, cursing the entire way.

Only when the stable doors slid shut with a small bang Adella calmed down. She paced her stall, huffing and shaking her mane.

Sleipnir watched her with interest. She was born in the stables around the time that he came here. He always liked her but he knew that he probably didn't have a choice on matters like that. The stable hands would sometimes talk about how they wanted to use Sleipnir to raise a new generation of war horses. Any time that they attempted anything like that, Sleipnir would kick and buck around until they gave up.

He knew he was gifted, memories of opening portals and teleporting that little, black-haired boy arose, but he didn't know if he could still do the same things on command. If Odin needed to travel to other realms, he used the Bifrost, not Sleipnir. Sleipnir wasn't even sure if anyone knew about his gift. He was stronger and quicker than the other horses and this gift only made him stand out even more. It could be useful but he was tired of being used.

He had grown weary of this place. The sights, the smells, the grumpy old man who would roughly brush his mane, everything no longer felt normal.

A sudden feeling of rebellion rushed through him. He had to leave; he couldn't stay. Someone needed him. He didn't know who - probably the snake, the girl, the wolf pup, or maybe the two boys.

He had to get out of here. He needed to find someone, find himself - his true self.

With a strong back-kick to the stall door, Sleipnir broke through the wood and stepped over the splintered wood. Adella whinnied and paced around her stall nervously. She wanted to know what Sleipnir was doing but he ignored her and focused on trying to find a way out.

At the noise, the stable boy came rushing back, this time with two other workers.

"The king's horse!" the boy shouted and pointed. Sleipnir froze, he had never been temperamental nor disobedient. The looks on the men's faces were usually enough to stop Sleipnir from continuing but the longing to find his siblings urged him forward.

One of the men, a tall, burly man with long, ginger hair tied back into a ponytail, held up a hand, trying to soothe Sleipnir's rebellion.

"Hey, there, boy," the ginger said calmly. Sleipnir had seen this trick enough to know that the man was trying to calm Sleipnir down so that he could wrangle him back into a stall. "Easy, now. We're not going to hurt you."

Yeah, right.

Suddenly bold, Sleipnir charged right through the trio. The stable boy yelped and dove into a hay pile to avoid being run over. The ginger managed to grab onto one of Sleipnir's hind legs but he let go after being dragged along for a few feet. The other man grasped at Sleipnir but he fell on his face, clinging to nothing but empty air.

Sleipnir ran through the open stable door and out into the fresh air. He galloped through the green pastures and took a flying leap over the fence. One look back showed that the two men were chasing over him. Sleipnir kept pushing on, running towards nothing, in particular, leaving the stables far behind.

Only when he couldn't see the stables anymore did he slow down to a walk. They would surely have a team out searching for him; it's not every day that the king's horse escapes. At least that gatekeeper man, Heimdall, no longer worked for the king. The new man couldn't see the universe so Sleipnir could hide easier. Nevertheless, he was easy to recognize with his eight legs.

What if he tried to change form? His mother, or father, one of the two, might have been able to do it. If they could, why couldn't he? If he could open portals, then changing form might be easier.

Closing his eyes, Sleipnir focused his energy into the center of his being. What if he had sedir, like one of his parents, did? He might have inherited some level of magic but he had yet to find out how much if any.

Ignoring the blinding headache that started pulsing behind his eyes, Sleipnir slowly started to shape his store of magic into an Aesir-like form. He imagined himself as an Asgardian teenage boy, someone who would easily blend in with the citizens of Asgard.

He stayed still for nearly five minutes, the process going slow so that he wouldn't make a fatal mistake. He didn't notice navy blue light swirling around him, shaping his body into what he would look like if he was a normal Asgardian.

The use of his little store of magic brought hidden memories rushing back:

_The snake stabbing the blonde-haired boy while the dark-haired boy watched in shock..._

_The wolf pup curled up asleep, supporting the little girl as she napped..._

_The throne room of Asgard, King Odin sitting on his throne, gripping his staff grimly..._

_The dark-haired boy was crying and shouting something as he struggled against a guard who held him back. The blonde-haired boy was unconscious in the arms of another guard. The wolf pup growled while the snake snapped at a guard who tried to pick him up. The little girl cried into the shoulder of a darkly bearded man wearing strange, human-like clothing. King Odin didn't look too happy as he held up a hand towards Sleipnir's head. Sleipnir recoiled backward, ropes tugging on his neck, but Odin's hand landed on his head and he fell unconscious..._

Sleipnir gasped in agony and shock. His knees gave out from under him and he collapsed onto the grass.

What had Odin done? He never had those memories before but they seemed plain as day. They were real. Was he cursed? Were his siblings cursed?

Sleipnir grabbed at the ground, trying to find an anchor back into reality. Siblings? He never had siblings before, unless…

A shudder ran down Sleipnir's spine. His siblings were separated by the king. He had two younger brothers and a younger sister. He was related to the dark-haired boy somehow. And Odin split them up. But for what?

Determination to find out gave Sleipnir energy to stand back up. He wobbled and tripped over his feet, feeling unbalanced and odd.

Looking down, Sleipnir noticed that his normal hooves were gone. Instead, they were replaced by two pale feet and long legs - normal, Asgardian legs. Shocked that he had accomplished some form of magic, Sleipnir tentatively held up his hands. His hands were the same pale color of skin and had five fingers on each hand. He looked normal. His mane was shorter, he noticed as he felt the top of his head, the hair soft and silky.

Sleipnir crawled on hands and knees towards a little puddle of water leftover from the rainstorm last night. His eyes were the same color but framed by dark eyelashes that made him look like he was constantly wearing eyeliner. He had high cheekbones and dark eyebrows. His hair was shorter on the sides and thicker towards the top in an ivy league hairstyle. His face had a mysterious but gentle look to it which almost matched his personality.

A small breeze made him realize that he didn't have any clothes on. His slender frame had a decent amount of muscle definition that would be impressive if he was human instead of Asgardian.

Sleipnir pushed himself to his feet, embarrassed but glad that nobody was around to see him completely bare. He needed to find something to cover himself up.

Keeping to the shadows and ducking behind any bush or tree that he found, Sleipnir slowly made his way towards the city market. He had been through there plenty of times to know that seamstresses and leather workers had a plentiful supply of clothes to sell.

He eventually made his way over, being careful not to be seen by anyone. Going to the city market might have been risky but he had no other options. Breaking into the palace would be more difficult because of the guards patrolling around it so Sleipnir crept around the backside of the market shops looking for a place to get clothes.

He could hear the crowd laughing and talking openly with each other as they sold and bought items. Little vendor tents or wooden shacks were lined up on either side of the road, sellers shouting out prices and trying to gain as much profit as possible.

Finally, he found a fancy shop selling men's and boy's clothes. After checking that nobody was looking, Sleipnir snatched a pair of black pants, calf-high boots that looked to be around his size, and a dark gray vest over a navy blue tunic. He also grabbed a pair of silver arm gauntlets and quickly got dressed.

Everything surprisingly fit and looked good on him. He felt bad for stealing but he needed it more than they did. Now that he looked decent, Sleipnir decided that he would need a weapon if he were to go find his siblings.

Stepping out of the shadows, Sleipnir joined the crowd to look for a vendor that sold weapons. He didn't have any money but maybe they would take pity on him since he was so confused and awkwardly tried not to trip over his feet.

"How are you doing there, son?" a tall man asked. He stood at least a foot taller than Sleipnir, and Sleipnir was already rather tall. His leather clothes were covered by an apron and leather gloves, the clothes of a blacksmith.

"You look lost," the man continued, his smile soft and gentle compared to his hard-worked face.

"I am," Sleipnir said slowly, unsure of how his voice worked. He hadn't talked before, well, the Aesir never understood him. "Do you know where to find a blacksmith?"

The man chuckled and motioned with his hand towards his shop. "You are in the right place, lad. Allow me to help you."

The man turned around and started rifling through his goods. Swords, axes, and spears hung on the walls. Daggers and shields were laid out on several tables. A single lantern lit up the inside of the shop with help from the front wall being completely removed to let in the sunlight.

"What exactly are you looking for?" the man asked.

"A sword?" Sleipnir replied. He hadn't fought before and never had any training so he just said the first weapon that came to mind.

"A sword," the man repeated. He mumbled to himself and decided on a longsword, the silver blade gleaming in the sunlight. The grip was wrapped in blue leather and had silver pommel and cross-guard.

"How is this one?" the man asked and laid the sword on a table. He placed the matching sheath next to the sword. "It will go well with your clothing."

Sleipnir gave an awkward smile and nodded.

"Wonderful," the man said. He slid the sword back into its sheath and pulled out a feather pen and a scroll of paper. "How will you be paying?"

Sleipnir blinked. He forgot that he didn't have any money. "I'm sorry?"

The man looked back up. "Payment, lad. I don't just hand out these for free."

Thinking quickly, Sleipnir came up with an excuse for why he didn't have any gold on him. He felt bad for lying but he needed something to protect himself with.

"Oh, there must be some misunderstanding," Sleipnir said, choosing his words carefully. "I am a messenger from the king. He told me to tell you to leave a tab open and we will pay you back for the sword. He is too busy to take care of simple matters like this so I was sent for him."

The man looked taken aback. "The king? Why, you certainly must be so, considering that the clothes you are wearing are from one of the most respected leatherworkers and seamstress. The couple may be old but they have been hired by the royal family for more than one occasion. I am so sorry for this misunderstanding. Tell the king that I am honored to serve him."

The man put a fist to his heart and bowed his head. Heat rushed up Sleipnir's cheeks, turning them red. He hoped that the man wouldn't notice as he handed over the sword and quickly wrote down a payment note for Sleipnir to give to the king.

Sleipnir tried to act normal as he walked away from the blacksmith. He strapped the sword around his waist and walked in the opposite direction of the palace. The Bifrost was his best bet if he were to leave Asgard. He had no idea where to go so he felt lost when he stepped into the giant, golden dome of the Bifrost.

A bald man with a dark beard and blue armour glared at him. A collection of odd junk and items were piled off onto the side.

"What do you want?" the man growled, clearly unhappy about having to stay at the Bifrost alone for an extended time.

"I am looking for my brother," Sleipnir replied. He stood up straighter, held his head up higher, and tried to look more confident when in all reality, the man kind of scared him.

The man scoffed. "I don't take requests to find lost siblings. Get lost, kid."

That man had started to get on his nerves. He wished Heimdall was here; he was a lot easier to work with and more compassionate.

"I don't think you understand," Sleipnir continued. "The king wanted me to find my brother so that we can help him with some problem that he has. My brother is not on Asgard and I am sort of on a deadline."

"That doesn't mean anything," the man said. "I-"

"I'm sure that you would not like to lose your status as gatekeeper," Sleipnir interrupted. "I would hate to have to explain to the king that his gatekeeper is refusing to take orders from him."

The man paused, contemplating. He cursed under his breath and stepped up onto the platform that held the sword to open the Bifrost.

"What is your brother's name?" the man asked, looking rather unhappy about taking orders from a teenager.

Sleipnir realized he didn't know his brother's name. Thinking hard, a name finally came to him.

"Jormungandr," Sleipnir said and walked towards the opening to wait for the man to open the Bifrost.

"Great."

The man twisted the sword in the holder. A rainbow of light swirled in the opening, replacing the view of the blue sky.

The force of the Bifrost tugged on him, sending Sleipnir off to Norns-knows-where.

Wherever the Bifrost sent him, Sleipnir hoped with his whole being to find his brother Jormungandr alive, to find answers about his past and to reunite his family that Odin had torn apart.

**If you are interested, I wrote about Sleipnir's origin story in **_An Eight-Legged What? _**It explains a bit more about his past. And if you are wondering what Sleipnir looks like because my descriptive writing needs work, I have my website link in my profile where I have a character page. Until then, the next chapter is coming soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back with another chapter! I had a five day weekend because we had a snow day for school even though there was no snow. This weekend is kind of long and repetitive so I decided I had plenty of time to finish writing this chapter. So, therefore, enjoy! :)**

**Chapter Two: Reunited, And It Feels So Strange**

The bright colors of the Bifrost faded as soon as he touched down on the soft ground. Sleipnir stumbled and caught himself on a tree branch before he fell. Looking around, Sleipnir surveyed his surroundings, wondering where his brother could be.

The landscape was covered with trees so thick that he could only assume that the Bifrost sent him to Alfheim. Alfheim, the land of the Light Elves, typically had a reputation of being an inviting realm but now the trees blocked out the sunlight, casting ominous shadows onto the moss-covered ground. Alfheim had the most forests out of any realm yet somehow Sleipnir landed in possibly the only swamp in the realm.

Moss covered the ground, making it soft and squishy. Strange birds chirped in the treetops and frogs croaked unseen on the shore. Vines drooped from trees, dragging on the ground from the low-hanging branches. Algae turned the closest pond water green, hiding whatever lurked underneath. A slight fog hovered low in the still air, swirling with the occasional breeze.

Luckily for him, he had landed in the only relatively dry area of land. The Bifrost had burned the moss away, leaving the symbol that he knew but had lost the meaning of a long time ago.

Being careful, Sleipnir slowly started walking in the direction that he guessed would lead him to his brother. He drew his sword and held it in front of him like how many of the guards would whenever they were being skeptical of a possibly hostile area. His boots sank into the ground with each step and released him each time with a wet squelch. He saw an alligator basking in the only sunlight that streamed through the trees.

The swamp seemed scary and out of place in a realm known for its light and beauty. A feeling that he was being watched hovered over Sleipnir like the fog. He felt like he was trespassing on someone's territory and that he should turn back but the need to find his brother kept him going.

He was so focused on watching the trees for an animal that could pounce on him that he wasn't watching where he was stepping. His foot collided with something dry and large, his momentum sent him rolling over an unknown mass. He barely managed to avoid landing on his sword and sat down hard on his rear.

His stomach gave a little jump when he saw what he tripped over…

A large, clear snakeskin - big enough from him to crawl through - lay on the ground. The beginning and the end of it disappeared into the fog.

"What in the Nine Realms?" Sleipnir mumbled out loud, his voice wavering with fear. What did this swamp hide? A snakeskin surely meant that the real creature was out there, and most likely unfriendly.

Sleipnir struggled to his feet, his legs suddenly felt like jelly from nerves. Nobody could survive an attack from something _that large_; what if the snake ate… No, his brother had to be alive, he must be.

As Sleipnir bent down to grab his sword, a rustling in the trees above him stopped him. His heartbeat started racing at an unhealthy pace and a cold sweat chilled the back of his neck. Thinking that maybe he was being paranoid, Sleipnir turned back to his sword, feeling the need to get out of there as soon as possible.

However, before he could take even a step, something suddenly dropped down on him, flattening him to the ground with its weight.

Sleipnir yelled and rolled, trying to kick the thing off. A kick awarded Sleipnir with a grunt and also confirmed his fears that he was being attacked by something _alive _and possibly very dangerous.

He never had any training for self-defense but adrenaline finally kicked in and his head felt clear. His senses narrowed down and he was suddenly _in the moment_. The creature, he realized, was just as sloppy as a fighter as he was, but the creature had the element of surprise. Sleipnir could barely get his feet under him when a hard punch connected with his jaw.

The recoil made Sleipnir lose his grip on the creature and he fell backward onto the ground, the softness dampening his fall. Sleipnir reached for his sword but it lay out of arm's reach. Strong arms wrapped around his neck before he could do anything, squeezing hard.

Sleipnir gasped for air and clawed at the arms in an attempt to loosen the grip, but to no avail.

"Who are you and what are you doing trespassing on _my_ territory?" the creature hissed angrily in a voice that sounded vaguely like a teenage boy.

"I'm...looking...for...my...b-brother…" Sleipnir managed to gasp out; the lack of oxygen made it hard for him to focus. He gave up trying to escape, thinking that if he couldn't break free right there, then he was going to die alone in a musty swamp.

Just when the darkness almost completely consumed his vision, the arms slid off and Sleipnir fell forward onto his stomach. The sudden rush of air into his lungs made him cough. He slowly rolled onto his back after he got his wits about him and propped himself on his elbows to look up at his attacker.

A teenage boy about his height and possibly a year younger then himself stood with his bare arms crossed angrily in front of his chest. The only clothes he had on were a pair of black leather pants with holes ripped in the knees and covered with dirt and a sleeveless silk shirt that at one point must have been white. His feet were bare and covered in dirt. His ears were surprisingly pierced with shiny silver earrings in the helix of the ear and the earlobe.

What stood out the most was the boy's hair. His hairstyle looked nice on him - an undercut with shaved sides and slightly wavy hair piled on top that needed to be cleaned and brushed. However, the color of it surprised Sleipnir. Instead of being a normal hair color that one would expect, the boy's hair was _green._ It faded from dark green out to almost lime green at the tips of his hair. His hair was long enough to cover his eyes but he had brushed it out of the way to reveal his bright, golden eyes that Sleipnir could see clearly, even from the ground. A dark remnant of a scar crossed over his left eye, standing out against his pale skin. High cheekbones and a thin face similar to Sleipnir's made him even more intimidating.

The boy had more muscle definition than Sleipnir yet he also appeared to be skinnier due to lack of nutrition. He had a wild look about him that made Sleipnir wary of how to act in front of him.

"What's your brother's name?" the boy asked just as menacingly as when he first talked; his voice seemed rough from lack of use.

Blinking the sudden blurriness from his eyes, Sleipnir took his time to think over his response. He didn't want to anger the boy any more than he already had.

"J-Jormungandr…" Sleipnir finally answered.

The boy raised an eyebrow in recognition.

"Are you sure?" the boy asked.

"Yes," Sleipnir replied, his voice quiet from fear of being attacked again. He noticed that his sword lay behind the boy, the hilt sticking out of the mossy ground.

The boy shook his head. "I don't have a brother."

That single sentence hit him as hard as the boy's punch from earlier.

"I-I-I'm sorry. W-What?" Sleipnir said, trying to grasp what the boy just said.

"I don't have a brother, so get lost," the boy snapped. He turned his back on Sleipnir and started walking away, jamming the sword further into the ground as he passed it out of spite.

In an act of bravery or pure stupidity, Sleipnir scrambled to his feet and chased after the boy. He grabbed onto his shoulder and spun him around. Ignoring the extremely pissed off glare that the boy gave him, Sleipnir gripped the boy's shoulders tighter and stared in right in the eyes.

"I don't think you understand," Sleipnir stated, trying to make his purpose clear for the boy. "I am looking for my younger brother and his name is Jormungandr. I can spell it out if you want but I'm almost certain that you are him."

The boy gave a dry laugh, clearly not amused at Sleipnir's insistence. "I'm going to tell you one thing and one thing only. I have lived here for _thirteen years_ and never in my entire life have I _ever _had a brother, and certainly not one who is a fancy, know-it-all prince."

Fighting against his subconscious that was yelling him to leave the crazy boy alone, Sleipnir left his hands on the boy's shoulders and kept eye contact with him.

"Do you even know where you are?" Sleipnir asked, going for a slower approach.

"Alfheim. Where else would I have gotten these clothes from?" the boy responded, his frown never wavering. When Sleipnir didn't say anything, the boy explained, "I stole them from a teenage elf who was too stupid to realize that he trespassed onto _my_ territory. If I were you, I would leave unless you want to end up dead, just like that boy, and have me steal your much nicer clothes off your corpse."

The threat was enough for Sleipnir to let go of the boy and take a step back because the boy seemed like he was being serious. However, Sleipnir continued pushing.

"Do you not know who I am? Do you not remember our younger siblings?" Sleipnir asked, following the boy who had started walking away again. He yanked his sword out of the ground and slid it into its sheath just in case the boy kept his threat and ended up killing him. "What about those summer nights where we would watch the stars and chase each other until we were too exhausted to continue? What about our father-"

"Oh, would you just shut up?!" the boy shouted and whirled around to glare at Sleipnir. His golden eyes were burning with anger. Sleipnir took a step back, knowing that he had crossed the line.

"My 'father' abandoned me here when I was not even three years old. I had to learn how to take care of myself. How else do you think I managed to survive? I am _not _your brother and I certainly do not care about my 'father.'"

"How are you supposed to survive while you are living in the same area as a giant serpent?" Sleipnir continued, his temper rising at the boy's stubbornness.

"Oh, I won't hurt you unless you piss me off. But unfortunately, you _have_ pissed me off and I suggest that you leave and never come back if you want to live to see the light of day."

So the giant serpent _was _the boy. That would explain why he reminded Sleipnir of the little snake from his memories. They really _do_ grow up fast, considering how large the snakeskin was.

A nickname suddenly came to him as the boy moved to turn around again. Sleipnir grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled to face him before the boy could take another step.

"Jormy, would you just wait?" Sleipnir pleaded. He was _so_ close to finding one of his siblings; he wasn't about to let one of them go without trying first.

"My name is _Jormungandr_," the boy hissed and yanked his hand away from Sleipnir. Jormungandr stepped up close to Sleipnir and glared, his breath warm and smelled slightly of fish.

"I don't need a family or a brother or a father, for that matter. But what I need right now is to be left alone," Jormungandr said, his voice dangerously low. "My father never cared about me. If he did, he'd be the one out here looking for me instead of some stupid horse boy."

Jormungandr bared his teeth and hissed in Sleipnir's face before spinning on his bare heel and storming off. This time, Sleipnir let him go but he called after him in one final attempt to persuade his brother.

"So you _do_ remember," Sleipnir pointed out, his voice making the only noise in the still air. His memories of the day in the throne room came rushing back in sudden clarity. "And you are wrong. You were not conscious when we were separated. Our father had _tears_ streaming down his face as he struggled against the guards. If anything, that proves that he cares and didn't want us to be separated. Our real enemy is not our father but the one who separated us in the first place."

Jormungandr stopped in his tracks, his body almost swallowed up by the fog. Sleipnir only took a few steps towards him, still keeping his distance.

"I can barely remember anything after that day. You were gone, our younger siblings were gone, and our father was gone. All those memories came back not even a day ago and it felt like I was truly alive for the first time. You must have had the same feeling: waking up feeling different, constant headaches, feeling like your life was a lie, and trying out something deep inside you to form your new body. I'm sure that our father is feeling the same way as us. He _cares_ about us. Our father didn't separate us and threw us away like we are some _monsters_, our grandfather did!"

Sleipnir's voice started cracking as emotion took over him. A sudden feeling of abandonment washed over him and tears started running down his cheeks. Nevertheless, Jormungandr's quietness gave him the strength to continue.

"You can do whatever you want - I'm not forcing you to listen to me - but you should realize that I did not travel all the way over here to lose you again."

The moments that followed seemed to take an eternity. The breeze stopped rustling the leaves in the treetops and the fog stopped swirling, or maybe it was all part of Sleipnir's imagination as he patiently watched his brother's back as the younger of the two stood there contemplating Sleipnir's words.

After a long pause, Jormungandr finally turned around, his lips pressed in a firm line and his eyes blazing with anger.

"I am going to kill my grandfather," Jormungandr said, his voice barely above a whisper. "And there is nothing that you can do to stop me."

A thin smile slowly crossed Sleipnir's lips. He had finally gotten through to Jormungandr and the younger had accepted him in a way that only he could.

Confident of his decisions, Sleipnir stepped up to stand in front of Jormungandr, physically and metaphorically closing the chasm that separated them.

"Then allow me to help."

**Next chapter is coming soon! Please review! I really, really, appreciate any loving responses I get from you all. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Leap Day! Study hard! Work hard! And always remember to have fun! :)**

**Chapter Three: Welcome to the Swamp**

The trek through the swamp to Jormungandr's 'home' took too long for Jormungandr's liking. He had the area completely memorized and could find his way back home with his eyes closed if he needed to. However, Sleipnir didn't have the experience that he had. The older of the two kept tripping over roots and kept acting paranoid. Any little noise made him jump. Sleipnir would have walked right into a patch of quicksand if Jormungandr hadn't grabbed him by the back of his fancy armour and dragged him back.

The extra time gave Jormungandr a chance to think over what had happened earlier. Maybe he had been a little too mean to Sleipnir but Jormungandr had lived his entire life alone and having a finely dressed boy suddenly show up and claim that they were brothers threw Jormungandr off guard. He had acted tough mainly because he didn't know how to react.

A few hours ago, he had been curled up on his favorite rock and taking a nice nap while soaking in the very limited amount of sun that the swamp received. Then an extremely painful headache blinded him and he felt like throwing up and passing out at the same time. His mind had cleared up and a rush of memories shocked him so much that a burst of magic that he didn't even know that he had transformed his serpent form into one that resembled a teenage boy. He didn't even have hair a few hours ago and hearing that another boy had the same problem made Jormungandr a little apprehensive.

The truth was, he was lonely. The only people he ever saw were the occasional Alfheim hunter or a group of rowdy kids. He knew there were rumors about the giant serpent that lived in the swamp and kids would dare each other to try to find him. Most of the time, he left the strangers alone and nobody had ever truly seen him except for one man whom he assumed was from either Asgard or some other realm. The man had managed to sneak up on him when he was taking a nice nap and attempted to kill him, probably on a dare or some stupid quest. Jormungandr had retaliated and gave the man a nasty bite in the stomach that eventually killed the man because of his venomous fangs. The man had left Jormungandr with a painful scar that crossed over his left eye and would have blinded him if the cut had been deeper.

The swamp had a reputation of being dangerous but Jormungandr knew that he was the reason by people considered it that way. Even though he practically ruled the swamp, after the event with the man, Jormungandr learned not to trust anyone who entered, especially those with weapons. And he would have killed Sleipnir if some part of his subconscious hadn't prevented him from doing so.

Jormungandr scrambled over a pile of rocks and shook away his feelings. He didn't want or need any help and he only allowed the horse-boy to tag along only because the other kid seemed to be telling the truth. The horse-boy wanted Jormungandr to help him find their supposed siblings but Jormungandr saw it as an opportunity to use Sleipnir as a way to seek revenge on the man who abandoned him in the swamp.

He hadn't left the swamp since he came here and he honestly hated it. Although he could go wherever he pleased, he very much doubted that he would be welcome anywhere else, considering that most people usually are afraid of a giant serpent. He had nowhere to go and no reason to leave until the horse-boy came along. Maybe he let Sleipnir join him because he was looking for an excuse to leave the stupid swamp.

Jormungandr shook his head and grumbled to himself. _No_, he didn't need a family. He had managed to survive on his own for a long time. After he killed his grandfather, he planned to ditch the horse-boy and find some other place to live by himself.

The mix of conflicted feelings almost made Jormungandr walk right past his 'home' before he realized that he had already reached his sunning rock. It might have been a stretch to call it his home even though he had lived there for years. He never really felt attached to the place and only stayed there because the cave offered protection from the weather.

The cave was more like an opening in the ground. The entrance sat below a tall, almost dead tree, its drooping branches and vines hiding the opening. Medium to large moss-covered rocks dotted the ground around it. Anyone could have passed by it without a second thought unless they knew what they were looking for.

The leaves on the tree were so thin that it allowed the sun in. The moss on Jormungandr's sunning rock, a large rock underneath the tree, had been worn down from use. The sunning rock came a lucky bonus to the already perfect cave.

Jormungandr brushed aside the vines and branches and led Sleipnir inside the cave. The cave, a lot more commodious than it looked on the outside, had a stone ceiling. The roots from the tree held up the walls and snaked around on the floor. The only light came from the entrance, a puddle of water glistening from the late afternoon sun. The cave could fit Jormungandr's giant serpent body comfortably with room to spare.

Being at least several thousand pounds lighter and hundreds of feet smaller than he was used to caused Jormungandr suddenly feel very small and insignificant. A nervous shiver traveled down his spine and he hugged himself against the cold, damp air.

Sleipnir stepped into the cave with less confidence than Jormungandr did. The older of the two looked around apprehensively, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"It's kind of dark, isn't it?" Sleipnir asked, his voice echoing against the stone.

Jormungandr shrugged, trying to act nonchalant despite feeling trapped. Although he could sense the horse-boy's nerves, Sleipnir had a sword and could take him down a lot easier with his new body. "I can see in the dark so I guess it's fine."

"Oh."

Sleipnir awkwardly rocked on his heels and glanced around, seeming very nervous. Maybe Jormungandr had scared him too much.

Trying to say something to break the awkward silence, Jormungandr walked over to his stack of animals that he had caught and saved for later. He picked up a dead rat and offered it to Sleipnir.

"You hungry?" Jormungandr asked, attempting to be nicer.

Sleipnir's face suddenly paled and he looked about ready to throw up. His hazel eyes landed on the pile of dead animals and quickly glanced away.

"Um, no thanks. I-I-I'm vegetarian," Sleipnir managed to mumble. He avoided any eye contact with Jormungandr, which was fine with him because he had grown tired of the horse-boy's wide-eyed gaze.

"Well, I am," Jormungandr said. He waited until Sleipnir looked back at him and purposely took a large bite of the rat, chewing slowly while the horse-boy gagged and turned away quickly.

Jormungandr smirked at Sleipnir's expense. However, the small amusement of teasing Sleipnir faded as his appetite disappeared; he stopped chewing and tossed the rat onto a pile of bones that he really needed to clean out one day.

"Are we going to do anything?" Jormungandr asked. The wet stone made his bare feet cold, too cold for his liking. He felt cold all over and would have sat on his sunning rock if the sun hadn't already started setting.

Sleipnir hesitated when he turned around, afraid that Jormungandr still had the rat. "I don't know." He looked up out of the cave, trying to discern where the sun was. "We don't have much daylight left to do anything productive."

Jormugandr shrugged. Already, the cave had gotten darker from the lack of sunlight.

"Are we going to kill our grandfather tomorrow?" Jormungandr asked.

Sleipnir didn't look too happy with the question but he nodded. "Eventually, yes. Right now we need to get some rest. It's been an eventful day."

/\/\/\/\/\

Darkness came upon them a lot faster than Sleipnir expected. Sleipnir had gathered a pile of dry sticks and anything else that he deemed flammable. He had been trying to start a fire for the last thirty minutes, accomplishing nothing by rubbing two rocks together trying to get sparks.

Jormungandr sat off to the side, watching with an amused smile on his face. The smile offset his shivering form.

"I thought you said you knew how to do this?" Jormungandr teased, his teeth chattering together. The swamp tended to get chilly during the night but Jormungandr had never felt _this cold_ before. And having nothing on except for a thin, sleeveless shirt and pants didn't help at all.

"I said how hard could it be," Sleipnir snapped back, becoming irritated. He had watched many soldiers start a fire easily with other items and he assumed that they had always used rocks or sticks. He realized now that he had no idea what he was doing.

"Why haven't you tried to start a fire before?" Sleipnir asked, looking up from his pitiful pile of sticks.

"I didn't have _hands_, dimwit."

Sleipnir sighed and tossed the rocks away. His stomach rumbled but he didn't dare to eat anything in the swamp because there were no plants that he trusted and he didn't eat meat.

Giving up on trying to start a fire with rocks, Sleipnir stuck his hand in the center of the sticks and closed his eyes. Concentrating, he imagined a bright fire, warm and inviting. He had never tried anything like this before and he had a feeling that it wouldn't work but he had to try. Seeing Jormungandr sitting there, shivering made Sleipnir's heart hurt with pity. Whoever left his younger brother to suffer alone in this horrible swamp was going to pay for their actions.

A flame suddenly shot up, almost catching Sleipnir's sleeves on fire. Sleipnir let out a yelp and pulled his hand away. A nice, warm fire burned on the pile of sticks, the red and orange flames flickering and crackling.

Sleipnir cried with joy and held his hands over the fire. Jormungandr scooted over and did the same, his face looking a little less pained.

"How did you do that?" Jormungandr asked, impressed even though he would never admit it.

"I don't know. It just sort of came to me," Sleipnir replied. He added more sticks to the fire and watched the smoke curl up out of the opening of the cave and into the starry sky.

Jormungandr gave a hum of approval and laid down on the hard, damp floor of the cave. His shivering had slowed down but he still hugged himself for warmth.

Sleipnir wanted to lay next to him to share body heat but he felt that Jormungandr would stab him if he tried. He shrugged off his vest and laid across Jormungandr's shoulders instead. Jormungandr curled up under the vest without opening his eyes. Watching his brother's chest rise and fall, Sleipnir suddenly felt like crying.

He was so close, _so close_ to figuring out his past and going back to a life that he once had. Tears started rolling down his cheeks, blurring his vision. This was the start of a brand new chapter of his story if Jormungandr let him into his life.

Somehow he had a feeling that Jormungandr would be tough to get close to. The younger of the two had had a hard life, living alone in the swamp. All those years would make it difficult for Jormungandr to adjust to any other way of life. The future looked uncertain yet more promising than it was a day ago.

One thing that Jormungandr knew for was that he would keep searching until he got his family back again, even if he died trying.

**More coming soon! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**No I am not dead. Apparently the United States and the entire world thinks that this is the apocalypse or something. A shortage on toilet paper? Really? It sounds fake even though its real. I know that the whole virus thing may be scary to some people but around 80% of people who get it don't even know they have it. It's just like another version of the flu that happens to only affect older people and those with underlying conditions. I mean, there's a 98% survival rate. It's very similar to the seasonal cold and the flu. I honestly can't believe I'm saying this, but I want to go back to school. Today is my second official day of spring break and I am so bored and tired of sitting around that I think that I'm going to die of boredom. I'm an introvert, staying at home is my specialty, but I miss my friends and I'm tired of being alone (although I have my brothers and parents). Honestly, just wash your hands (like everyone should have already been doing) and use common sense. All this will pass soon, once everyone and the media stop blowing it out of proportion.**

**Anyways, after that ranting, I finally had enough free time to finish this chapter. There is some mention of all the stuff that could have happened on Sakaar, like the adult-like stuff that the Grandmaster totally did. It's only one sentence and probably not noticeable but I am just warning you ahead of time just in case you are sensitive to small, itty bitty allusions.**

**Chapter Four: Sakaar to Your Beautiful**

The sun shone right into Sleipnir's eyes, waking him up from his restless slumber. Sleipnir groaned and pushed himself to sit. He stretched out his back, trying to get out a kink in his spine. The hard ground of the cave left him feeling sore all over, making it impossible to get a good night's sleep.

Jormungandr rolled over to his side and hugged the vest closer around his shoulders. His eyes were squeezed closed as he attempted to get a few more minutes of sleep.

The campfire had gone out a long time ago. Sleipnir didn't bother trying to reignite it because they wouldn't be coming back here for a while. Sleipnir had planned to leave early to find their other siblings and he didn't need to relight it since he had nothing to cook. His stomach growled but he didn't trust any of the plants in the swamp since he didn't know which were poisonous or not.

Sleipnir strapped his sheath around his waist again and gently poked Jormungandr's leg with his foot.

"It's time to get up unless you want to sleep all day and accomplish nothing," Sleipnir said.

Jormungandr groaned and aimed a weak punch at Sleipnir's leg. He missed and finally decided to give up on getting any more rest. He slowly sat up, the vest still clutched around his shoulders.

"What now, oh fearless leader?" Jormungandr yawned, with his eyes still half-closed.

"Unless you want to eat something, I suggest we leave right now," Sleipnir replied.

Jormungandr raised an eyebrow. "Where? In case you haven't noticed, we don't even know where _your_ siblings are."

Sleipnir tried to ignore the wording of the response. Jormungandr apparently didn't consider himself as Sleipnir's brother and it hurt. Nevertheless, Sleipnir decided to move on; Jormungandr would come around eventually - it would just take some time.

"I found you easily enough. I think all I need to do is concentrate and _we_ will find them," Sleipnir replied, emphasizing the 'we.' "We are looking for a wolf pup and a little girl, it should be easy."

"There are a _lot_ of wolves and girls in this universe, stupid," Jormungandr pointed out. "We'd probably die of old age before we find them."

Sleipnir frowned. He thought that his plan would work but now he wasn't so sure. Jormungandr was right, they had nowhere to go and the chances of finding their younger siblings only decreased with every option. Finding Jormungandr was most likely pure luck. The others, however, might prove to be more of a challenge to find.

"When are we going to kill your grandfather?" Jormungandr asked. He had finally stood up and handed Sleipnir his vest back.

"We will get there in time," Sleipnir said. "We just need to get back to Asgard and then we can continue from there."

Sleipnir paused as he suddenly realized that he didn't know the name of the new gatekeeper and thus, he had no way of getting back to Asgard without the help of the Bifrost. He pushed the thought aside and tried to act like he knew what he was doing so that Jormungandr wouldn't make fun of him again. He needed some space; the cave was making him anxious and anxiety wouldn't help with giving him ideas.

Climbing out of the cave, Sleipnir breathed in the fresh air, as fresh as the air got in a mushy swamp. Jormungandr followed and sat down on a nearby rock, swinging his legs impatiently.

"I thought you said you had a plan," Jormungandr said, his patience slowly thinning. He wanted to leave and kill whoever abandoned him here and the stupid horse-boy only slowed him down.

"Maybe if I focus," Sleipnir thought out loud.

"Focus?"

Sleipnir turned around to face Jormungandr. "I have noticed that I possess the ability to create gateways between space and time. It has been a while since I have tried it but maybe if I focus on our siblings, then maybe I can find them."

"You can create portals?" Jormungandr asked, his interest piqued. "Why didn't you say that before?"

Sleipnir picked at his left hand in nervousness. "I am severely out of pract-"

Jormungandr jumped down from the rock in excitement. "It doesn't matter! As long as I can get out of this damn place, I'm down. Try it!"

"It's rather dangerous…"

"I don't care. If I die, then I die. Life hasn't been the nicest to me anyways."

Sleipnir sighed and gave in. He was out of options and if he died, then the universe wouldn't care. Nobody had cared for them anyway, just like Jormungandr had said. If someone did care, then he wouldn't be here in this swamp with a wild, green-haired boy who refused to consider himself as his brother.

Taking a few steps back and closing his eyes, Sleipnir focused his mind on Asgard. Images of the golden palace shimmering in the sunlight, a luscious garden filled with colorful plants and flowers, and the open pasture of the stables filled his mind.

Suddenly, memories of the little girl and the wolf pup took over his mind. Sleipnir tried to focus on Asgard but the memories of his mysterious past overwhelmed him and he lost control.

Before he knew it, he was falling. He could hear Jormungandr let out a startled yell but he couldn't open his eyes because of the wind rushing past him as he fell.

Struggling against both himself and gravity, Sleipnir forced his eyes open and looked around, trying to find Jormungandr. If the air hadn't already left his lungs, it did now.

They were falling through the sky and plummeting straight towards a garbage covered ground. Junk fell out of the sky from several wormholes. An obnoxious and colorful city stood out like a sore thumb even amid acres of trash.

Jormungandr was flailing his arms and legs and letting out a high pitched scream that Sleipnir knew better than to mention to Jormungandr if they survived this. Sleipnir reached out to grab hold of his brother but his fingers gripped nothing but air as they plunged right into the middle of the mounds of trash. Debris flew up into the air as Jormungandr disappeared behind a pile of broken metal parts.

The impact had knocked the wind out of him and made his vision blurry. Slowly, he lost consciousness as the world turned black.

/\/\/\/\/\

The darkness slowly switched to a bright array of colors. Sleipnir blinked and attempted to rub at his eyes but something stopped his arm from moving. Looking down, Sleipnir found that he was strapped down to a chair, metal cuffs held his ankles and wrists to the chair.

An unseen feminine voice started speaking, most of her words lost as Sleipnir started to feel dizzy. The colors switched from planets to a shadow of a man to the city he saw when he was falling. It went by so fast that the colors started to blend and Sleipnir felt like throwing up. His eyes hurt, his head hurt, and his stomach hurt.

Just as he was about to let out a scream of pain, the colors and voice stopped. The sudden end gave Sleipnir whiplash and it took the remainder of his strength to keep the meager contents of his stomach down.

"Ooh, look at him. He looks a little, ah, sick," a man's voice said.

Sleipnir opened his eyes, and blinking away the spots, he saw an older man sitting on a fancy chair. He wore a golden robe that shimmered in the bright light and reminded Sleipnir of silk pajamas. He had gray hair and decently tanned skin. His nails were painted a light blue, the same color that traced under his eyes and from his bottom lip to his chin.

A woman in black and dull bronze armour stood next to him. The stern look on her face suggested that she hardly ever laughed, contrasting with the man's relaxed yet excited demeanor.

A large window looked out over the city from the spacious room. The ceiling arched up far above their heads. Several guards in strange armour stood around with nasty looking weapons.

"Ooh, aren't you two just lovely," the man said, his hands moving to accentuate his words.

Two?

Sleipnir looked to his right and saw Jormungandr strapped down in a chair like his own. Jormungandr appeared to have handled the strange color show a lot better than Sleipnir did. His face was stoic except his glare.

"Mmm, so young and, ah, innocent. Tell me, how did you get here?" the man asked.

"Where are we?" Jormungandr questioned, breaking his silence. His voice was dangerously low, suggesting that he didn't like his current situation.

"Oh, didn't you listen to the presentation at all?" the man said. He threw his hands up in mild frustration and turned towards the woman. "What good is having that presentation if no one listens to it?"

"Maybe tone it down a bit," Jormungandr suggested sarcastically. "It felt like I was on an acid trip or something."

"Ooh." The man shivered in fake nervousness. "He's got a mouth on him, doesn't he. Feisty. Most likely a fighter."

Jormungandr tugged at his restraints. "Go screw yourself."

"Oh, I already do that enough already."

Jormungandr rolled his eyes in disgust and leaned towards Sleipnir while keeping his eyes on the strange man.

"Is this Asgard?" Jormungandr whispered.

"No," Sleipnir replied.

"Good. 'Cause I'm highly disappointed with the designer of this place. All this color is making me want to throw up."

"Asgard?" the man jutted in. He had moved from his chair and was standing before the two, making Sleipnir jump in surprise. "Where's that at?"

"Definitely not here, old man," Jormungandr retorted.

"Ah, ah, ah. I would watch your tone if I were you."

Jormungandr opened his mouth to say something but Sleipnir cleared his throat and gave Jormungandr a pointed look. Something in his gut told Sleipnir not to anger the strange man and letting Jormungandr run his mouth would most likely be stupid and dangerous.

"So," the man said, sitting back down and adjusting his robe. He crossed a leg over a knee and leaned back in his chair. "Tell me how you two are related. Friends? Enemies? Lovers?"

"_Lovers?!"_ Jormungandr shouted angrily. He tried to lunge at the man but the restraints held him back.

"Oh, I just assumed based on your clothing." The man waved an open hand at Sleipnir. "He's all fancy and has the look of a strong leader. And you, well, ah, your clothes resemble those of someone of lower status, most likely as-"

"Don't you ever-" Jormungandr started to shout.

"We're brothers," Sleipnir interrupted, trying to stop Jormungandr from saying something stupid. Sleipnir could start to feel the anger radiating off of Jormungandr. If he wasn't strapped down, Jormungandr would have torn the man's head off his shoulders by now.

Realization lit up in the man's face. "Oh." He leaned forward and studied the two. "I can, ah, see the resemblance. Ah, yes, similar facial structure, body structure. Although, you," the man looked at Jormungandr. "Ah, you do have a bit more muscle than your brother."

If Jormungandr wasn't seething with anger, he would have taken it as a compliment and teased Sleipnir about it forever; however, he had grown tired of the man's assumptions and the desperation to get revenge on whoever abandoned had once again taken over his thoughts. Maybe before he left, he would kill the strange man just for fun and also because he hated the man's stupid robe and attitude.

"Let us go," Jormungandr commanded.

"Ooh, ah, I'm afraid that cannot happen." The man turned towards the woman standing next to him. "They are rather young but they could prove to be, ah, vicious fighters. The one with green hair seems promising, doesn't he?"

The woman nodded with her eyes focused on Jormungandr and spoke for the first time. "Indeed."

"Perfect!" Turning back, the man clapped his hands and signaled towards the guards. "Take them down to where the others are. We should have an interesting show tonight with two, ah, new contenders."

Four guards stepped forward, one on each side of the brothers' chairs. Sleipnir yelped a bit when his chair was suddenly spun around and led down the hall. Jormungandr hissed in anger and tried biting the nearest guard but he couldn't reach. Giving up, he leaned back in his chair and let the guards lead them through a maze of hallways and onto an elevator, even if he felt like murdering the whole lot of them the entire way.

The elevator stopped on the lowest floor and they were led out. A small click rang through the still air as their restraints were released. Jormungandr took this opportunity to punch the nearest guard in the jaw and aimed another punch at another guard. A hand wrapped around his wrist and shoved him through an open door before he could land another punch.

Jormungandr fell with a grunt and watched Sleipnir stumble inside. Jormungandr scrambled to his feet and lunged towards the door. Unfortunately, the door slid shut with a hiss of released air just as Jormungandr ran straight into it with a frustrated cry.

"No!" Jormungandr shouted and let out a stream of vulgar curses.

"Woah, woah, hey," a cheery voice suddenly said. "No need for such language."

A strange creature made out of rock stood behind the brothers with an even stranger bug-like creature with knives attached to his hand. The rock creature had a friendly smile on his face and his eyes traced over the two brothers.

"It's a freaky door. Only opens when we go to fight," the rock creature said.

When neither boy responded, the rock creature placed a hand on his chest and stood up straighter. "Hi, I'm Korg. This is Miek. You must be new. Let me guess, you two are a lost couple who stumbled upon this place."

"Couple?" Jormungandr asked and took a step forward.

Sleipnir held out his arm in front of Jormungandr to stop him from advancing further. "We're brothers. I don't know how we got here but we need to _get_ out of here soon."

"Oh, nobody leaves," Korg said. "At least nobody that I know of. This is a controlled place, run by the Grandmaster."

"Who?" Jormungandr asked. He paused. "Wait, does he have gray hair, stupid blue eyeliner, and likes wearing fancy pj's?"

"Why, yes, he sounds like the Grandmaster, although that is not what I would use to describe him," Korg answered.

Jormungandr threw his hands up in frustration. "Great. Just great! We're stuck on a dumpy, overly colorful..._planet_ that is ruled by a spoiled grandpa in pajamas. What type of place is this?"

"Oh, this is a freaky place…"

"Yeah, you said that already," Jormungandr snapped, his temper rising along with his thinning patience. "And nobody has told us where we are!"

Korg suddenly frowned grimly. "Welcome to Sakaar."

**More should be coming soon, especially now that I have at least three days before I have to do online learning. Stay safe, wash your hands, and use common sense.**


	5. Chapter 5

**For once, fanfiction is unblocked on my school computer. It sure helps a lot because it's hard to update my stories on my phone and I don't have the patience right now to use my old dinosaur home laptop. This quarantine thing is not super horrible since I usually don't do much socializing outside of school but I miss my friends and I don't like doing online learning. It feels weird just doing homework all the time instead of me sitting in class not saying a word and kind of zoning out a lot. On the plus side, Algebra 2 is easier because it's just the website that we use for homework assignments which give you an example so that you have a reference for your own problem. And quizzes are supposed to be on the same website so I should be able to use whatever I need to complete them. Still, I wish that math didn't exist and that I could back to school so that I could be with my friends again. I hope everyone is doing well. Hopefully, this chapter will help with quarantine. :)**

**Just a fair warning, there is some usage of stronger language in this chapter.**

**Chapter Five: Heartbreaker**

"Sakaar. What a stupid name," Jormungandr muttered. "It's fitting at least. A stupid name for a stupid place ruled by a stupid person."

Sleipnir rubbed his temples. His head still hurt and Jormungandr's complaining only made matters worse.

Holding up a hand half in question and half as a way to slow things down, Sleipnir asked, "What did the Grandmaster mean when he said that we 'looked like fighters?'"

"Oh, Sakaar is a place where two things happen: parties and gladiator fights," Korg replied.

"Parties?" Sleipnir asked.

Korg opened his mouth to say something but then paused. Looking at the two, Korg's facial expression switched from mild happiness to confusion.

"How old did you say you were?" Korg finally asked.

"He's thirteen. I'm fourteen," Sleipnir said, pointing to Jormungandr first and then to himself.

Korg's eyes widened. "Oh, dear. Oh, dear. I am certainly not going to explain what goes on at the Grandmaster's parties to such young ones as yourselves. The gladiator fights, however, are easier to explain. Although I wonder why he sent rather young fighters down here instead of letting you go."

"He sure didn't look like he wanted to let anyone go," Jormungandr stated, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against a wall.

"Well, usually the fighters are a lot older…" Korg's voice trailed off and he looked down at Miek who nodded in agreement.

"Anyways," Korg piped up. "The fighters go out into the ring and battle until only one stands. If the Grandmaster feels like the winner is worthy enough, he will have them face his champion. And nobody has won - or lived - after fighting the Grandmaster's champion."

"You've lived," Jormungandr pointed out.

"Oh I just do the earlier fights to hype up the crowd and whatnot. I've never actually faced the champion," Korg said.

Korg continued to explain how the fights worked in a happier voice than one would expect for something so gruesome.

"Great. This is fan-freaking-tastic," Jormungandr complained when Korg was done. Korg's explanation of how Sakaar worked did not suit Jormungandr's liking one bit. Yes, he may enjoy the occasional fight but a full-blown battle to the death in front of thousands of strange people cheering on the death and blood was something that he usually refrained from unless he was provoked. Even then, his fights were easily one-sided as he used to tower over his prey.

Jormungandr grabbed Sleipnir's arm and pulled him away from Korg and Miek to talk alone. He had grown angry at the horse-boy's mistake and his temper had finally reached its breaking point.

"This is all your fault," Jormungandr said, jabbing a finger into Sleipnir's chest. "If it wasn't for you, we would be on Asgard instead of this dump."

"I told you that I am severely out of practice," Sleipnir responded. He understood that Jormungandr had a right to be upset but he didn't like being accused of sending them here when he had no idea how his abilities worked. "I thought that I had it under control... and then something happened. I lost focus and… we ended up here. If it helps, I am truly sorry for this set back."

"Set back? This is more than a set back! We are stuck here, being forced to fight for that pajama man's entertainment. If there's anything that I don't like, its being forced to do something for someone's entertainment. I'm not a show!"

Sleipnir sighed. "I understand, I really do and I am just as concerned as you are but you need to realize that my intentions were not to bring us here. Maybe if we work together, then we can find a way out."

Jormungandr scoffed and rolled his eyes. "A way out? Didn't you hear that rock guy? There's no way out. We're stuck here to do the Grandmaster's bidding."

"Would you stop being so pessimistic?" Sleipnir asked. "Negativity usually does not help when thinking of a solution."

"Then what do you have planned, oh intelligent one?" Jormungandr asked sarcastically.

Sleipnir paused, thinking. Finally, he spoke up in a quiet voice, "I don't know."

That had done it.

The last string had snapped inside Jormungandr and he threw his hands up in frustration as he glared at Sleipnir.

"When you first showed up, I thought that maybe I could hitch a ride with you to somewhere different. You were my ticket out of that damn swamp and you failed. Failed! I could have killed the man who left me there by now if it wasn't for you," Jormungandr hissed.

"I-"

"No," Jormungandr interrupted, his voice just barely under a yell. "No apologies because nothing that you say will ever help fix what a disappointment you are to me. First, I get abandoned by a father that you want to go find. Then, you just came waltzing in, claiming that we were 'brothers "and whatnot and just started to boss me around. And now we're stuck here, waiting for a bloody end to a pathetic life that I've lived."

"You're not pathetic and I'm sure that our father will want us back," Sleipnir muttered, shocked almost into silence by Jormungandr's rage. "It was our grandfather who left us, not our father. Our father tried to get us back, I've told this already."

"No, just no! Stop with the 'ours' and the 'us.' There is no 'we.' You and I are not a team. Father, grandfather. What's the difference? If either of them truly cared, then they'd be out here saving out asses from your miserable mistake. You might as well give up because your pathetic fantasy of a 'perfect family life' is never gonna FREAKING HAPPEN!"

The circular dungeon was big enough for Jormungandr's voice to bounce off the walls and ring out in the silent air. Korg, followed closely by Miek, rounded the bend and glanced at the two in shock. His rocky mouth had dropped open and he looked rather confused by the tension. Jormungandr gave the rock creature a sidelong glance before turning back towards Sleipnir.

"You know what, we may or may not be related by blood, but you are not my brother. When we go out there, to die, just expect one thing from me: I am not on your side and I don't care whether or not you survive. And if it comes down to us battling against each other, I'm not holding back. Because you are dead to me."

**Stay safe, review, favorite, and wash your hands! More is coming soon! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**I know that this took a long time to write. I have been busy with homework and lacked the motivation to write anything for a while. I also wanted this chapter to be longer and longer chapters mean that it takes a while to write. Anyways, I must warn you that there is a lot more violence in this chapter although I don't really consider it more graphic than what Marvel movies already are. I'm not the best at writing action scenes but I tried my best so I hope you enjoy it. :) **

**Chapter Six: Don't You Know That You're Toxic**

Disheartened and on the verge of tears, Sleipnir slid down against a wall. Jormungandr had moved to the opposite end of the circular dungeon, fuming mad and lost in his own thoughts.

Korg had tried to comfort Sleipnir but the Kronan's gentle words did nothing to fix Sleipnir's mood.

He had come all this way to try to get his family back together and he messed it up. If he had known that a single stupid mistake would force Jormungandr away from him, then Sleipnir would have taken his time to practice before sending them hurtling through space and time to this rotten, junkyard of a planet.

Dejected, Sleipnir remained sitting and gave up trying to find a way out of the dungeon. Korg was right, there was no escape, so why even try. He was going to die in the arena and he had no way of preventing it.

As they waited for their inevitable doom, the dungeon and its occupants were silent. The only noise was Korg occasionally talking to Miek in a quiet voice and when the guards gave them a meager meal of bread and some strange porridge that Sleipnir would have passed on if he wasn't so hungry.

Finally, after nearly three hours of waiting, the time came for the prisoners to get ready for battle. The guards led the group up several floors to the area where the other contenders were picking out their weapons.

Racks full of various and strange weapons were lined up on one side of the multi-colored wall. A large fence made out of what appeared to be lasers cut through half the room, separating a bar area from where the contenders were. Armour and other battle gear lined the other wall opposite the weapons. Many contenders, of different sizes and species that Sleipnir had never seen before, mingled about somberly as if they knew that this could possibly be their last day alive.

Sleipnir followed Korg and Miek over to the weapons rack looking for a replacement for the sword that was taken away from him. Surprisingly, he found it again, hanging up on the racks next to the other swords. Even more so, he found another one just like it, possibly from another Asgardian who had befallen the same fate as he did. In addition, he added a navy blue cape that he found that matched perfectly with his armour's design.

Sliding the swords into their respective scabbards that he strapped to his back, Sleipnir looked around for Jormungandr. He eventually found him near the armoury, picking out a pair of black boots, silver arm guards, and a sleeveless leather top that gave him more protection than the silk shirt that he was wearing. He also had a black cape that started from his left shoulder and went across his back, pinning to his waist in a surprisingly intimidating style. The other clothes apparently didn't fit him or didn't appeal to his style because Jormungandr came over to the weapons rack. He made a point ignoring Sleipnir and picked out a short handle, double-edged battle-axe that he strapped across his back.

Finally, the guards called the contenders over and split them into groups. Korg and Miek were sent off to a group that consisted of what appeared, veteran fighters. Sleipnir and Jormungandr were ordered into the same group as each other, much to Jormungandr's dislike and Sleipnir's dread. If it came down to the two of them, would he have the guts to fight Jormungandr and would Jormungandr live up to his promise of killing him?

He didn't have any time to mull over the answers to the burning questions because the guards led their group through the winding, colorful halls to the arena in a different direction than Korg's group. Sleipnir tried to memorize what direction they were going for future reference in case he wanted to try to escape but the trippy designs on the walls caused him to lose focus.

They eventually made their way to the arena. They could hear it before they saw it from the seemingly large crowd's cheers. Half the group was separated and led around in another direction to spread out the combatants. Looking around, he saw that he wasn't the only one shaking from fear. Several of the other newcomers were either glancing around nervously or staring wide-eyed at the gate in front of them, leading to the arena - to their doom.

Only Jormungandr seemed normal except for the slightest clenching of his jaw that Sleipnir wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been standing right next to him.

The Grandmaster's voice rang out through the halls, hyping up the crowd.

"For the first fight of the night, I am excited to present a group of new fighters. Keep an eye out for two love- I mean brothers. They're young but could prove to be viable contenders," the Grandmaster announced. "Keep an eye out for a black and a blue cape."

Sleipnir glanced at Jormungandr at the obvious mention of them, but the younger only glared even harder at the metal gate in front of them even though the design on it was hard to look at, much less stare at it for several minutes like he was.

The metal gate slowly opened, revealing a gray-blue ground of sand with red designs. Rows of seats circled the sandy ground, completely packed with an overzealous audience. People were leaning over the railing, holding signs written in alien languages, and just making an overall ruckus. Ships hovered in the air above the stadium, filled with even more people watching intently. On one side of the arena sat the Grandmaster on an elaborate couch. He was alone on the couch but several strangely yet nicely dressed people sat or stood behind him in the fancy suite that jutted out of one side of the arena and enclosed by metal with a giant glass window.

Sleipnir saw Jormungandr twitch at the sight of the Grandmaster enjoying the show.

At the guards' signal, the contenders were pushed into the arena before the gate closed behind them. A gate on the other side opened as well and the other fighters from their group poured out, armed and ready, waiting, anticipating.

Then, all hell broke loose.

The contenders rushed at each other, shouting and raising their weapons. Sleipnir was roughly shoved from behind and fell down onto his hands and knees. Looking up, he saw the two groups locked in battle. Already, a couple of contenders lay dead or dying on the ground.

Jormungandr started fighting an alien with sharp claws and bear-like teeth. The alien slashed at Jormungandr but he counterattacked with his battle axe and sliced an arm off his opponent.

Sleipnir looked away in disgust, barely noticing another fighter with scaly skin and spikes for hair lunging for him. Rolling out the way, Sleipnir grabbed hold of his swords' hilts and caught the creature's nasty-looking weapon in an 'x' made from his swords, stopping the creature from slicing him.

He shoved the creature away with his swords and brought his swords around in a circle to disarm the creature, sending its weapon flying through the air and sticking into the sand away from Sleipnir. The creature chased after its weapon, leaving Sleipnir alone.

Staring at the violent battle and pools of different colored blood on the ground, Sleipnir realized that there was only one rule in the arena: survive.

The roar of the crowd faded as Sleipnir's instincts took over, sending adrenaline through his veins. He only used his swords if an opponent got close to him; otherwise, he backed himself up against a wall to protect his blindside and faced the battle, waiting for others to come to him.

From his spot, clutching his swords with shaking hands, Sleipnir watched as Jormungandr sliced his way through the other fighters. Shocked by his brother's violent strategy, Sleipnir was tackled by a strong, overpowering creature with biceps as big as his head.

Sleipnir kicked the creature off and tried to stand up when his arms were suddenly pinned together and raised above his head, dragging his whole body off the ground and several feet in the air. His swords clattered to the ground, laying uselessly out of reach.

The bicep muscle creature growled at him.

No, not _at him_ but at something _behind him_.

Twisting against his restraints and kicking wildly in the air, he found out that another creature was holding him in the air and out of reach of the bicep creature. But that didn't help calm his mounting fear.

A slimy, brown alien twice the size of the bicep creature and with tentacles for arms hissed back at the bicep creature and dragged Sleipnir with it. Its arms were holding Sleipnir away from its slug-like head so that Sleipnir couldn't kick it. Sleipnir struggled to break free from its grip but its tentacle arms pulled on his shoulders in a way where it started to make his arms numb.

In the midst of struggling against the creature as it slowly lowered him towards its open mouth, Sleipnir caught sight of Jormungandr going down underneath a large troll-like being and not getting back up. The troll raised its metal club above its head and started beating Jormungandr with it.

A wave of anger and anxiety washed over Sleipnir, giving him enough strength to kick the creature straight in the teeth, breaking off several of its long fangs and sending a spray of yellow blood into the air. It let go of him and Sleipnir used the force of the kick to execute a perfect backflip and land right in between his swords.

He scooped his swords up, sliced the bicep creature's outreached arms off, and sprinted towards where Jormungandr lay unmoving underneath the troll. The troll raised his club above his head again and pressed a hidden button, summoning hidden spikes to jut out of the spherical head.

Just as the troll readied itself for the killing blow, Sleipnir leaped into the air, his cape billowing out behind him. He aimed a flying kick at the troll's arm, sending its club tumbling out of its hands. Sleipnir landed and kicked the club away before it could hit Jormungandr. The troll grunted and swept its arm at Sleipnir but Sleipnir dodged its arm, spun around, and sliced off its head with one swift motion.

Breathing heavily with his swords pointed down, legs spread, covered in troll blood, Sleipnir watched the troll's body collapse onto the sand, staining the ground with the blood pouring out of its bare neck.

He barely heard the crowd cheer at the spectacle as his heart threatened to beat out of his chest. Instead, he turned around and bent down at Jormungandr's side. Jormungandr had a busted lip, a black eye, and was bleeding from several cuts on his face and chest. Nevertheless, he managed to sit up and punched Sleipnir square across the jaw.

Sleipnir almost fell over with the force. He caught himself and gave Jormungandr a glare as he held his aching jaw.

"I had it handled," Jormungandr hissed and struggled to his feet. He swayed and fell to his knees with a sudden wave of nausea.

"He almost killed you!" Sleipnir exclaimed through gasps of breath. "I was trying to help!"

"I don't need your help!" Jormungandr snapped and attempted to tackle Sleipnir.

Sleipnir rolled his brother off him and onto his back. Jormungandr hissed, his golden eyes flashing angrily. His hand found the hilt of Sleipnir's sword and swung it up at Sleipnir's face. He was too slow, however, as Sleipnir anticipated the attack and easily wrenched the sword away.

"I just saved your life!" Sleipnir pointed out bitterly. "The least you can do is not kill me!"

Jormungandr rolled his eyes and spat out a glob of blood onto the ground. He remained silent and stared at the ground, too hurt and embarrassed to try anything else.

The cheering crowd broke into the brothers' silence. They suddenly realized that they were the only ones left alive or mostly intact. The ground was littered with mixed blood and countless bodies. The crowd had started cheering for them, chanting something over and over. It took some time to figure out it was due to the ringing in both their ears: "_Warrior Brothers! Warrior Brothers!"_

Looking up, they saw the Grandmaster standing up in his suite, clapping slowly and smirking.

That fight was the start of many popular battles in the Grandmaster's arena that all ended with Sleipnir and Jormungandr standing together and being called off before Jormungandr could try to kill Sleipnir each time.

As the days passed, their reputations grew. Jormungandr became quite feared among the other contenders, to the point where they would usually leave Sleipnir alone even though Jormungandr kept saying that he didn't care if Sleipnir died. He had even dared a few new contenders to attack Slepinir but Sleipnir, perfecting his fighting style, fought them off with ease.

They were so popular that they were moved up a tier above Korg and Miek to battle veteran contenders. Sleipnir's fighting style grew to become graceful as he learned how to fight hand-to-hand and learned several sword tricks. He was more flexible than his brother; and thus, could perform more defensive moves that allowed him to win even though the only contender he ever killed was the troll from the first fight. Jormungandr's fighting style, however, was more offensive and violent and usually consisted of him brandishing his battle axe and slicing wildly at opponents. He liked to get right in the middle of battles, making Sleipnir panic more than once as he typically finished each fight covered in blood, whether it was his or others' was still undetermined.

After each battle, they were sent down to the dungeons that they shared with Korg and Miek. Jormungandr ignored Sleipnir the best he could in their circular dungeon. Sleipnir, at first, was afraid of sleeping in the same room as Jormungandr for fear that he would be killed in his sleep but Jormungandr never acted on his threats, even though he tended to get uncomfortably close in the arena.

The days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, although Korg informed them that time worked differently on Sakaar. They were there for at least three Sakaaran months before they finally faced the Grandmaster's champion.

Although they heard of the Grandmaster's champion, the brothers had yet to see him since they were led out of the arena right away after each battle. Korg said that nobody ever survived and only the most experienced or stupid contenders faced the champion. Sometimes, the Grandmaster sent people whom he hated or upset him to fight his champion so that he could watch his enemies die in pain.

The day of their destined battle against the Grandmaster's champion started off normally. The brothers watched Korg and Miek hype up the crowd with their usual group of small, fan-favorites. Only two contenders perished in the fight and were dragged away before the last fight of the night.

They had picked out their usual weapons since they were comfortable with their weapons and knew that using something that they had experience with would be more helpful instead of a stronger weapon or armour that they hadn't had time to get used to.

Finally, after an hour of watching and pacing nervously - mostly on Sleipnir's part - the two were escorted to the gates. The crowd was cheering louder than normal, shaking the whole building. Sleipnir suddenly felt like throwing up but the gate opened and they were shoved through.

The screaming crowd made Sleipnir dizzy. Jormungandr gave him a sidelined glance and twisted his battle axe in his hands in a rare display of nerves.

Suddenly, the arena shifted underneath their feet and slowly raised upwards.

"What the f-" Jormungandr muttered under his breath. The arena had never done _this_ before.

The voice of the Grandmaster rang out, although he wasn't seen on his usual couch.

"I present to you, your favorite duo: the 'Warrior Brothers!'" Here, the crowd cheered for them and started a short chant.

The Grandmaster continued, "Tonight, they are going to -ah- face my reigning champion! You all know him! You all love him! The Incredible Hulk!"

With that, the gate on the other side of the arena opened up and loud footsteps could be heard coming down the dark hallway, shaking the ground.

The two Asgardians clutched their weapons tightly in their hands and braced themselves for an attack as the champion burst out of the gate with a loud yell. The crowd went berserk, screaming their lungs out and clapping their hands raw. Green smoke exploded in the air above the crowd and people waved their handmade signs of a green creature's face.

"_Holy_…" Jormungandr mumbled and lowered his weapon in shock, matching Sleipnir's overwhelming sense of fear.

The champion - the Hulk - stood nearly eight feet tall and probably weighed somewhere close to a ton, considering his large amount of muscles that were bigger than their chests. The Hulk was - quite literally - a hulking mass of pure muscle and anger. His skin was green and he only wore brown pants that showed his rock solid abs and chest muscles. A large helmet and some armour on his shoulders gave him some protection that he probably didn't need. He had two nasty looking weapons that he raised above his head and roared at the crowd as if he had already won.

"Oh my gosh…" Sleipnir gasped as a growing knot twisted in his stomach. If those weapons weren't going to get him, the Hulk's own strength definitely would.

Whipping around, the Hulk roared at the two boys and suddenly charged. They were so frozen by fear that they barely dived out of the way at the last second. The Hulk crashed into the wall but somehow managed to turn around quite quickly for something his size.

All rational thought disappeared out of Sleipnir's mind as he ran away from the Hulk's outreached fist. Jormungandr, however, raised his axe above his head and arched it down to slice the back of the Hulk's calf.

The Hulk roared and spun around to face Jormungandr.

"Oops…" Jormungandr said and gave the Hulk an apologetic smile right before he got punched in the chest and sent flying backward, sending up a spray of sand.

"No!" Sleipnir shouted, gaining the attention of the Hulk who was advancing towards Jormungandr.

The Hulk swiped at Sleipnir but he jumped over the large hand and used it to propel himself over the Hulk's shoulder and to grab onto the Hulk's back. He grabbed the edge of his sword and held it against the Hulk's throat.

The Hulk stumbled around trying to get Sleipnir off his back. Sleipnir shook around, trying his best to hold on but the Hulk got hold of his cape and yanked him off, hurtling away from him.

Jormungandr, who had just gotten to his feet, noticed Sleipnir flying towards him but was too shaken up to move. Sleipnir landed hard on top of Jormungandr, bowling both of them over.

"Get off me," Jormungandr growled and shoved Sleipnir off, just in time to save him from the Hulk as the large creature slammed his hammer-like weapon down on the younger boy. Jormungandr reached up and somehow caught it with both hands, stopping it from hitting him but his muscles strained against the Hulk's strength.

Sleipnir rolled away sliced upwards with his swords as the Hulk pushed down on Jormungandr, cutting two gashes on the Hulk's chest. The Hulk let go of his weapon, freeing Jormungandr who let out a sigh of relief.

"We have to work together if we want to survive this," Sleipnir exclaimed as he kept a wary eye on the Hulk.

"Screw you!" Jormungandr hissed and scrambled to his feet just as the Hulk swiped at them again.

Sleipnir flung himself to the side but Jormungandr dodged the arm and kicked the Hulk right in between the legs.

The Hulk bellowed in pain and staggered back several steps. Sleipnir took the chance to disarm him with a twist of his swords around the Hulk's weapon handle.

Jormungandr rushed in and kicked the Hulk's knee from behind, sending him to one knee. The Hulk grabbed for his abandoned weapon and swung it at Jofrmungandr's head. Jormungandr ducked but was hit as the Hulk brought the end of the handle swinging right back.

Jormungandr staggered in shock, blinking the spots out of his eyes from the hit. He was too stunned to notice the Hulk aiming a punch towards him. Jormungandr turned to see a large, green fist flying right towards him, knocking him flat on his back and backward several feet.

Sleipnir tried to slice the Hulk again but the creature caught the swords and yanked them out of Sleipnir's hands, almost pulling his arms out his sockets in the process.

The Hulk suddenly reached out and grabbed Sleipnir around the throat and squeezed - hard. Sleipnir let out a gurgle and slammed his fists repeatedly against the creature's tough skin, but to no avail. He struggled and kicked wildly, trying to free himself but the Hulk's grip cut off his oxygen and his movements started to slow.

However, he was still awake enough to make eye contact with the Hulk. Behind the anger in the Hulk's green eyes, something caught Sleipnir dwindling attention. He could sense something - or _someone_ \- fighting against the Hulk's anger as if someone was trapped inside the green beast. There was something more to the Hulk, just like how there was something more to Sleipnir than just being a horse and how Jormungandr was more than a snake.

Jormungandr, who was getting back on his feet, watched Sleipnir struggle against the Hulk's fist. He saw Sleipnir pause and stare in surprise at the Hulk's face, but Sleipnir had started to go limp with each passing second.

Something stirred inside Jormungandr, something incomprehensible, as he watched Sleipnir slowly going unconscious in front of him. His golden eyes flickered, the pupils going vertical as the feeling awakened inside him.

Jormungandr let out a shout, the hiss becoming deeper as he let the feeling wash over him. At first, the feeling came on slowly but it suddenly hit him like a wall.

The deafening hiss silenced the crowd as he suddenly changed into a gigantic serpent that towered over the Hulk and easily stood taller than the Grandmaster's viewing box, changing into his true form.

The wings on the side of his head opened as he hissed again, his voice shaking the stadium. His dark green scales stuck out of his body in a menacing fashion, ending at the pointed tip of his tail.

The Hulk turned towards Jormungandr and threw Sleipnir to the side. Sleipnir let out a yell as he was tossed across the arena and landed head first against the wall, knocking him out.

Jormungandr glared down at the Hulk, twisting into a striking pose.

The Hulk bellowed in response and picked up his weapons, keeping an eye on Jormungandr. The crowd remained completely silent at the sudden change, waiting on the edge of their seats to see what was going to happen.

The Hulk suddenly chucked his hammer-like weapon towards Sleipnir, landing just inches away from where Sleipnir was getting up. He flinched and closed his eyes against the hit that never landed.

Jormungandr, however, didn't like how close the hammer was and opened his mouth in anger. Rows of sharp teeth lined his mouth in addition to two large fangs on the top of his mouth.

He suddenly lunged downwards, his mouth wide open and his fangs dripping with venom as he aimed straight towards the Hulk with the intent to kill.

However, the bite never landed on the green beast...

Sleipnir, who was shaken from his realization that someone was trapped inside the Hulk, pushed himself to his feet and sprinted towards the Hulk once he saw Jormungandr coil to attack.

"WAIT!" Sleipnir yelled with his arms outstretched, sliding in front of the Hulk. A sharp pain suddenly pulsed from his right side as a large fang sank into his body.

Jormungandr pulled back, looking down to see Sleipnir fall over and the Hulk standing in quiet shock.

Realization at what he just did washed over Jormungandr, and in a flash, he turned back to his Aesir form. He stumbled as he landed from a few feet in the air and ran towards Sleipnir's form.

"No, no, no!" Jormungandr cried and fell down to his knees next to Sleipnir's side. His hands shook as he pulled the torn armour away from Sleipnir's wound. Sleipnir's pale skin had turned black and appeared burned around the edges. Green venom and red blood leaked out of the gaping hole in Sleipnir's side.

"I'm so sorry!" Jormungandr gasped. Sleipnir groaned in pain as Jormungandr racked his brain trying to remember what to do if someone got bit by a venomous snake. For the life of him, he couldn't remember even though he - of all people - should know.

Hot tears rolled down Jormungandr's cheeks as he watched Sleipnir's eyes roll backward. His body went limp in Jormungandr's arms.

"NOOO!" Jormungandr shouted and buried his face into Sleipnir's chest as he sobbed.

Sharp pain in his neck from the obedience disk set fire to his nerves and eventually, he too fell unconscious.

**I make no guarantees but I will try to get the next chapter done before the end of the school year (which is sometime in May). After school ends, updates may take a little longer than they already do because the only computer that I can use is an old, dinosaur laptop. I will try my best and I hope that you enjoy my stories. Please review if you feel like it. I would greatly appreciate it. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Whew! I finally finished this chapter. School is ending so I had to finish a bunch of homework. In two weeks, I have to return my school laptop so updates might take a little longer than normal. Anyways, enjoy this roller coaster of a chapter! :)**

**Chapter Seven: You're My Remedy**

The darkness slowly faded, leaving black spots dancing in his eyes. The room refused to come into focus, forcing him to lay in pain alone.

No, not alone. Someone else was in the room with him.

Gentle hands held a cool, damp cloth to his forehead. It felt nice amidst the burning sensation that coursed through his whole body. The cloth was small comfort as every breath hurt, like his ribs were broken. They probably were. His left leg felt a little off and strangely numb in addition to the ringing in his ears. The smell of strange herbs and other fragrances flooded his nose, making his stomach flip.

A muffled voice said something and it took him a while to realize that the person was speaking to _him. _A string of words floated down to him but he couldn't understand what the person was saying.

Forcing his eyes open, he tried to find the source of the voice. Thankfully, the dark spots had decreased, helping him to focus.

Looking up, he found the hand with the cloth and followed it upwards to a young woman's face who looked to be around his age. She had a golden brown complexion with dark brown hair tied up in a crown twist braid. Her black dress left her shoulders and arms bare as she applied some sort of healing cream to his chest.

"How are you feeling?" the woman asked and dabbed a different cloth against his forehead. She brushed a long strand of green hair out his eyes and smiled sadly down at him, her blue eyes meeting his golden yellow ones. The walls behind her were a trippy mix of blue and black painted in strange designs that only made him feel worse.

Jormungandr groaned and squeezed his eyes back shut as the pain of focusing on her face gave him a headache. The skin under the obedience disk on his neck pulsed angrily from the shock that he received earlier in the arena.

The arena, the fight, Sleipnir...

Reality suddenly hit him.

Bolting upright, Jormungandr gasped and almost collapsed from the sudden pain in his chest.

Bare chest heaving, Jormungandr looked around the room. Bowls of the strange smelling herbs surrounded him. The entrance of the room was a large opening on one end of the room. A window looked out to the left of him but he couldn't see out of it from his spot on the floor. Except for him and the woman, there was nobody else in the almost empty room.

"Where is he?" Jormungandr asked the woman. She blinked and appeared startled by his sudden change in behavior.

"Who?" the woman asked, her eyes wide in shock. She leaned away from him, clutching the cloth in both hands.

"Where is my brother?" Jormungandr repeated with growing hostility.

"I-I'm sorry but you need to lay down. You are not fully healed yet." The woman tentatively put a hand on his shoulder and tried to push him back down. Jormungandr slapped her hand away and she yelped and quickly got to her feet.

Jormungandr shakily followed suit and advanced towards her. "You're avoiding the question."

The woman backed into a corner of the room, still clutching the cloth as she cowarded away from him. She was at least a foot shorter than him, making it easy for Jormungandr to tower over her in anger.

"Where. Is. He?" Jormungandr hissed through gritted teeth although he could barely focus on her scared face. His vision swam and he nearly stumbled as he stepped in front of her with clenched fists.

"I-I-I don't know," the woman muttered, her voice shaking with her body.

Jormungandr's hand suddenly flew out and closed around her throat. She let out a scream and dropped the cloth.

"I think you know but you're not telling me," Jormungandr said bitterly. "Tell me or you might not make it out here alive."

His fist pushed harder against her throat and she froze in place. She squeezed her eyes shut in pain and finally opened them as she raised a hand in surrender.

"Alright!" she gasped out. Jormungandr loosened his grip but kept her pinned against the wall. "He might be down where the other contenders are."

"Contenders?" Jormungandr asked.

"You don't want to know," the woman replied, tears streaming down her face.

Jormungandr pulled back and slammed her against the wall again. "Try me."

Shaking from head to toe, the woman relented. "He's with the dead or dying contenders. Nobody could find a cure for the bite so they sent him down to the morgue where they usually burn them or send them to other contenders as food."

Jormungandr's grip slipped off her throat as he stumbled backward and she fell to the ground coughing. Looking down at her in shock, Jormungandr pressed further with a wavering voice.

"Is he...is he dead?" Jormungandr muttered.

"He wasn't when he was brought down there but we don't have an anti-venom that works," the woman answered between gasps of breath.

Both relief and worry rushed through Jormungandr and he collapsed to his hands and knees. Sleipnir was alive but dying. He had a chance to save him, to fix his horrible mistake. But he didn't have much time. He knew that his bites were dangerous and one bit could kill someone in less than an hour. He had no idea how long he had been out but Sleipnir, as strong as he was, couldn't last that long without Jormungandr's help.

"Anti-venom…." Jormungandr whispered. He looked at the woman through loose strands of hair where she sat a foot away from him, still too scared to move.

"Do you have a base?" he asked.

The woman tilted her head in confusion. "What?"

"A base for the anti-venom," Jormungandr repeated. "Do you have it?"

The woman blinked as she thought and then slowly nodded. "We do have several anti-venom bases ready for use but we don't have the actual venom from…" The woman paused and stared at Jormungandr. "From you."

Jormungandr stared at the floor and then looked up at her face. "Can you extract it?"

"I don't know how…"

Jormungandr chewed on the inside of his cheek. "I'll figure it out if you go get several vials of the anti-venom base for me."

When the woman didn't move, Jormungandr hissed at her and she took off running out of the room. Jormungandr mentally kicked himself for putting his trust on a woman he had just threatened to kill but he didn't waste any time on his part. Whether she came back or not, he could at least have extracted his venom.

Grabbing an empty glass bottle from a pile near the bowls of herbs, Jormungandr sat down against the wall where he could watch the opening. It was strange how he could just walk out without anyone stopping him. While questioning the Grandmaster's stupid idea to leave contenders unsupervised, Jormungandr twisted the cap off the bottle and rested it on the floor next to him.

Concentrating, he emptied his mind. He had never done anything like what he was about to attempt before. Sure, changing his form had come naturally to him but only changing a certain part of him might be near impossible.

Nevertheless, after several failed attempts and a lot of vulgar words spat out in frustration, Jormungandr finally felt his teeth shifting to reveal two pointed fangs, exactly like the ones from his serpentine form, except smaller.

Holding the empty bottle up to one of his fangs, he closed his eyes and pressed down. Mild pain pulsed at his gum line but he ignored it. Finally, he could feel venom pouring through his venom canal and out the tip of his fang. He sat there for a while, filling up the bottle before switching to his other fang.

Just as he was twisting the cap of the bottle back on, the woman walked into the room, holding several vials filled with clear liquid. She almost dropped them in surprise as she caught sight of Jormungandr sitting against the wall, shirtless with fangs sticking out through his closed lips and looking half-insane.

"Oh my-"

"Sorry," Jormungandr mumbled and closed his eyes again. His fangs disappeared and he opened his eyes again. "I wasn't expecting you to come back so soon."

The woman slowly walked over to Jormungandr, keeping a wary eye on him as she handed him the vials. "I assume you found a way?"

"Yeah," Jormungandr muttered as he poured the venom and two vials of the anti-venom base into a larger glass bottle. The venom and base swirled around in the glass bottle, creating an anti-venom that had a possibility of working. Even if it worked, it would do no good if he couldn't find Sleipnir in time. Standing up, Jormungandr threw his armour top on hurriedly and walked towards the open hallway.

"Wait!" the woman cried before he could take another step.

Jormungandr turned around in question. The woman held up a small rectangular device and pressed a button. Jormungandr heard a small 'click' and the obedience disk unattached. Holding the spot where the disk was, Jormungandr raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"The entrances to these rooms have an electrified barrier that is connected to the obedience disks," the woman explained.

"Why are you helping me?" Jormungandr asked after taking a wary glance at the entrance.

The woman fumbled with the device in her hands, avoiding eye contact. "I-I had a brother who was killed in the arena. The only reason why I'm alive is because I work for the Grandmaster as a healer. My brother got badly injured in the arena one day after a fight with the Grandmaster's champion. I tried to save my brother but I was too late. I understand it's like to lose but maybe you don't have to. I've seen the way you act around your brother. You act like you hate him but deep down, you care for him."

Jormungandr titled his head and stared at the woman who had teary eyes.

"I'm sorry," Jormungandr said quietly.

"Its been two years since he died." The woman shrugged half-heartedly. "Besides I either get killed by you for not helping you or killed by the Grandmaster for helping you."

"He's going to kill you?" Jormungandr asked, startled.

The woman struggled to meet his gaze but she nodded. "I almost got caught stealing the vials and this device." She held up the rectangular device. "It doesn't matter anyway. It's about time I join my brother in paradise."

When Jormungandr didn't respond, the woman waved her hand towards the open hallway. "Go! Your brother needs you."

Taking one last look back, Jormungandr gave the woman a sad smile and took off running. He had an inkling of where the morgue was because he had seen countless dead contenders being dragged to a closed-off room that was near the gates of the arena.

Trying to navigate the winding halls of the building without getting caught by guards turned out to be extremely difficult. With his mind half focused on finding Sleipnir and the other half thinking about the woman who helped him, Jormungandr took several wrong turns and ran into too many people that he cared to meet. A few citizens recognized him but he left before they could say anything.

One time, he almost walked right into a room where the Grandmaster was doing _something_ with a dark-haired partner who seemed rather familiar. The Grandmaster's partner, who appeared to be quite drunk, struggled a bit in the Grandmaster's arms but eventually gave up and buried their face in his shoulder, winning a small laugh from the Grandmaster.

Turning around as quickly as he could, Jormungandr put the image out of his mind since he did _not_ want to see the Grandmaster like that, especially with a partner who probably couldn't give reasonable consent.

Picking up his speed, Jormungandr hurried through the halls. His left leg started hurting from the fast pace and his chest kept squeezing his lungs, making it hard to breathe either from worry or a broken rib.

Despite the pain, Jormungandr pushed on with determination to find Sleipnir. He assumed that he had been unconscious for at least half an hour because the sky was still as dark as it was when he had the fight. People, thankfully, were starting to go to bed so the crowds started thinning out, making it easier for him to move unnoticed. He had to fight a couple of guards but they were rendered unconscious with a few, well-aimed punches.

Walking as silently as he could while wearing heavy, leather boots, Jormungandr eventually made it down to the morgue's floor, ducking behind anything he could find whenever he heard voices. It took him too long to make it down there but he wouldn't give up yet.

Finally, he found the door to the morgue and pried it open. The stench hit him before he could see, temporarily blinding. Ignoring the overwhelming smell of dead and decaying bodies, Jormungandr's slowly adjusted to the dim light.

Dull lights hung overhead, barely lighting the path through the middle of the room. The walls were surprisingly unadorned, seeming bleak and dismal compared to the rest of everything else in Sakaar. Bodies lay on tables on either side of the path, each of the dead contenders' names marked with a piece of paper hanging from the end of the tables. The path seemed to go on forever - the end disappearing into the darkness.

It was eerily silent. No guards were around. None of the dead bodies moved, which made it slightly better considering that everyone was _supposed_ to be dead - everyone except Sleipnir.

Watching where he stepped although the path was clear, Jormungandr quietly made his way through the morgue, checking each paper for names.

At the far end of the room, Jormungandr read the name for the body laying on its respective table. The horrible handwriting on the paper was hard to read in the dim light so Jormungandr leaned closer to see.

Suddenly, the body's hand twitched. Jormungandr yelped and stumbled back, tripping over a nearby table and landed on a soft body of a dead contender. The movement of the table made a loud bang in the room and echoed, no doubt sending up a signal for guards to come to check out.

Filled with fear and adrenaline, Jormungandr scrambled to his feet and slowly crept back towards the body. Looking down at the person's face, Jormungandr gasped.

Sleipnir lay shirtless on the metal table, his eyes closed. His skin was deadly pale, even in the dim light. His left hand dangled off the edge of the table. Without a shirt on, it was a lot easier to see the damage of his wound. The skin around the puncture hole had turned completely black and rough from the venom. It looked like someone had tried to treat it but gave up due to the damage. The wound had stopped bleeding but Jormungandr could see a little pool of green venom sitting inside the wound. Sleipnir's veins traced up his chest in black, webbed designs. The outline of his veins trailed all the way up to his neck.

Feeling the side of his brother's neck, Jormungandr couldn't find a pulse. However, when he hovered his hand over Sleipnir's nose and mouth, he could feel shallow breaths.

He was alive!

"By the Norns…." Jormungandr whispered, his voice wavering. _He _had done that. _He _was the one who hurt his brother.

Tears started streaming down his cheeks as Jormungandr twisted open the anti-venom cap. He pulled the syringe that the woman gave him from his pocket and filled it with the anti-venom. Without hesitation, he turned Sleipnir's left arm over with his palm facing up and slowly inserted the tip of the needle into the crease of Sleipnir's elbow.

Pushing the plunger of the syringe down, Jormungandr injected the anti-venom into Sleipnir's bloodstream. When the plunger reached the bottom, Jormungandr pulled the syringe out and refilled it. He hesitated before putting it back in since he had no idea how much anti-venom Sleipnir needed. He had heard that too much anti-venom could be harmful but Sleipnir's horrible condition couldn't possibly get any worse.

With more hesitation than before, Jormungandr reinserted the needle and continued to inject the anti-venom. He knew that a skilled healer should be the one doing it but he didn't trust anyone enough to touch his brother.

After the third full syringe and a long fifteen minutes later, some color had returned to Sleipnir's face. Some of the black in his veins faded, slowly but surely retreating down his neck and chest.

Despite the physical improvements, Sleipnir still hadn't moved or reacted to the anti-venom. Growing anxious for his brother, Jormungandr injected a fourth syringe and stared expectantly at Sleipnir's face. When no reaction came, Jormungandr fell to his knees and grasped Sleipnir's limp hand in both of his.

"No," Jormungandr whispered. Tears started welling up in his eyes, blurring his vision in the already dark room.

Resting his forehead against Sleipnir's enclosed hand, Jormungandr let his emotions take over him and he broke.

Sobs racked Jormungandr's body as he cried for the second time in his life. Strange feelings that he had never felt before overwhelmed him.

Was this heartbreak? Was this longing for a life he had never had and will never achieve?

Even though he was kneeling, alone, on the hard floor of a dark room in the midst of hundreds of dead bodies, Jormungandr's mind was only focused on Sleipnir. The times where he had yelled at or attacked Sleipnir in anger replayed in his mind. At the time, the only reasonable choice was to target his anger on someone he knew would take the blame for his own actions. Looking back, he realized that he pushed away the only person who was willing to help him, who would care for him, who actually _loved him._

The same person who gave Jormungandr a chance at a different, better, life was the same one who lay dead on the table before him. Sleipnir was dead because of _him._

"Brother," Jormungandr whispered, the word foreign in his voice. "I'm so sorry. I messed up. I messed up _bad_. I shouldn't have pushed you so hard to do something difficult without practice and then get upset at you for making a rookie mistake.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you or blamed you for my problems; I just didn't know how to react. In the swamp, it's either 'kill or be killed' and I guess my instincts took over in the worst way possible. I've never had the chance to get to know someone on a personal level, and when you showed up I just went insane. The sudden presence of another person scared me. I wanted someone to be close to but I didn't know how to achieve that closeness without somehow ruining it. Everything was so sudden and so new.

"I didn't know how to respond so I just acted out irrationally. I've never had someone to talk to, to connect with, to share my life's experience with. All those I've met either are scared of me or try to kill me. I thought that you had some other motive so I told myself that I wouldn't trust you. You were only a stepping-stone towards getting revenge on the man who left me to die in the swamp all those years ago. I was going to leave you once I achieved that but when we got stuck here, I lost it. My only chance at achieving my goal was gone. And I didn't know how to react.

"I-I just couldn't see past my anger. You never deserved such hate. All you have ever done to me was try to help, and I kept pushing you away. You are the only one who has done such nice things for me, and yet I was angry at you for some stupid reason. The swamp was filled with hate and I thought that I had to hate you to feel better. But I don't feel better. I feel horrible. I'm feeling different..._things_ and I just understand how I'm supposed to react.

"My heart hurts for some reason and I don't know why. I know that pushing you away was wrong now and that might be the reason why my heart hurts but I-I don't know how to fix it. In the arena, I realized that we were a better force together than separate. Together we could take on anyone we wanted and _win_ but I was so focused on fueling my anger by killing the other contenders. I thought that ignoring you would make everything better, but it didn't. It didn't. Only when I saw the champion choking the life out of you did I realize that I _need_ you. My rage took over and I acted too violently. You paid the price for all my faults; the price should have been _mine_ to pay. You did nothing wrong. And I see that now. The only thing wrong is me.

"We're better as a team, as brothers. And I _need_ you. Brother, I can't lose you. Not after I finally understand that the problem is me, not you. I _ruined_ our chance at a better life, at finding _our_ family. Brother, you don't deserve this. If anything, _I_ should be the one lying on that damn table. I know you can't hear me but I want you to forgive me for hurting you. I never meant for things to end up this way. It's all my fault. You're my brother, and I-"

Jormungandr's voice cracked and he sobbed even harder than before. The overwhelming sense of losing something that he could have gained felt like he was being stabbed through the heart. He killed his brother and he knew that he could never live with the guilt for the murder of an innocent victim.

So lost in his grief was he that he hardly felt the small twitch in his hands until it happened again. Startled into silence, Jormungandr lifted his head and stared in shock at his clasped hands, waiting for a reaction.

And there it was.

It was small and weak but definitely real. Sleipnir's hand, gripped tightly by both of Jormungandr's, squeezed gently.

Standing up but still holding Sleipnir's hand, Jormungandr looked down at Sleipnir's chest. The black veins had almost faded, leaving just a tinge of gray around the burned skin of the wound. His chest rose and fell with more fullness than before. More color had returned to his face. But the most shocking of all was seeing Sleipnir's eyes open. They were opened just a small sliver and clearly clouded over but Jormungandr could tell that Sleipnir had done that on his own.

The anti-venom must have worked. Sleipnir was alive!

"Sleipnir?" Jormungandr asked hesitantly as if saying his name would cause him to fall unconscious again.

Sleipnir's lips twitched as if he wanted to speak but the movement was weak and futile. Instead, Sleipnir gave Jormungandr's hand another small squeeze.

"Don't say anything, just rest," Jormungandr said. He looked around the room and shuddered at all the bodies that Sleipnir was so close to joining.

Jormungandr gently set Sleipnir's hand on the table and gripped his cape. Holding it in his teeth, Jormungandr tore a long strip of cloth off his cape and carefully wrapped it around the puncture wound in Sleipnir's side. He knew that he should clean the wound again but he had nothing to do so. He would just have to hope that the healer who attempted to save Sleipnir did a decent enough job to keep Sleipnir alive until he found someone other means of healing his brother.

Unfortunately, finding a different way to help Sleipnir meant that he would have to leave the relative safety of the morgue. With the night-time fading, he only had a few hours to find another spot to hide with Sleipnir. He doubted that the Grandmaster cared if they both died but Jormungandr was determined to not let it happen.

Deciding that the best option was to leave Sleipnir on the table, Jormungandr gripped the edges and slowly wheeled his brother out of the morgue. Sleipnir twitched at the sudden movement but made no protests.

"Hang in there," Jormungandr said quietly. "I'm going to get you out of here - alive."

Heading towards the light from the open door to the morgue, Jormungandr listened for signs of guards or other people. Hearing none, he gently crept towards the door and peered out through the small crack.

A sudden shadow fell into the light in the hallway, causing Jormungandr to step back into the morgue and lean against the wall, breathing heavily from the slight scare and silently hoping that the person would leave.

However, a hand pulled the door open and a figure stepped inside. Just feet away, Jormungandr kept a hand on Sleipnir's table and covered his mouth with the other.

"Hello?" a quiet, feminine voice said. The voice sounded familiar and slightly scared.

Determining that he was safe from a sudden attack from the guards, Jormungandr stepped away from the wall and peered into the darkness.

The figure wore a black dress and had the same hairstyle as the young woman who helped him earlier.

"Are you looking for me?" Jormungandr asked and stepped into the light.

The woman gave a small yelp and turned around in fright. After seeing that it was Jormungandr, she placed a hand over her heart and took a deep breath to calm herself.

The person was indeed the woman from earlier, which helped to calm Jormungandr's ever-growing anxiety.

"What are you doing here?" Jormungandr asked.

"I wanted to make sure that you found your brother," the woman responded.

Taken aback at the woman's response, Jormungandr looked back at Sleipnir's still form. "I did, but he needs help. The anti-venom worked but I don't know how much longer he can last without more medical attention. He can't get that here so I thought that I should move him. I don't know where but anywhere other than here is a lot better," Jormungandr explained.

The woman furrowed her eyebrows in thought as she stared at the ground. Then, she looked up at Jormungandr. "I can help."

"What?"

"I can help you move him out of here," the woman said while motioning towards Sleipnir with her head. "We can take him to my room. I have a lot of medical equipment there and nobody visits. It's the safest place we can get on Sakaar."

Jormungandr contemplated the woman's decision for a minute and then nodded. "Alright. I trust you."

"Good," the woman said. She held up her hand, which held the rectangular device that released Sleipnir's embedded obedience disk from his neck. "Because you wouldn't have gotten far with that in his neck."

Tossing the disk aside, Jormungandr grabbed hold of Seipnbir's table and pushed it towards the door. After taking a couple of steps, he paused and looked expectantly at the woman.

"I never got your name," Jormungandr said.

The woman smiled. "Mia."

"Jormungandr," Jormungandr said and returned the smile. He motioned for Mia to lead the way. She took off and Jormungandr followed.

They wound their way back up several floors. Luckily, most people were asleep so they passed through the hall with ease. They had to take the elevator due to Sleipnir and Jormungandr had to knock out a couple of guards on patrol but otherwise, they were safe from harm.

Finally, they reached Mia's room. She typed in an access code and the door slid open. Jormungandr pushed Sleipnir's table through. The door sealed behind them with a hiss and mechanical click.

"Over here," Mia said, motioning towards a different room off the small living/entrance space.

The walls in the other room were a soft color of light green and cream. It gave a sense of safety as the smell of herbs and medicines from the cabinets drifted through the air. A small bed sat in the middle of the room. Together, Mia and Jormungandr lifted Sleipnir as gently as they could off the table and onto the bed.

Immediately, Mia started hooking up several machines to Sleipnir to monitor his heart rate and to help him breathe. She cut the black cape off Sleipnir and cleaned the wound again.

Jormungandr stood by the door, shifting nervously from foot to foot. "Do you need any help?" Jormungandr asked as Mia finally stopped fussing over Sleipnir.

She took a few steps back and shook her head as she set down the vial of anti-venom that Jormungandr handed her on the table next to the bed.

"All we can do right now is wait," Mia said. She picked up a small electronic tablet and walked out of the room.

Jormungandr waited a while before deciding to follow her after giving Sleipnir one last glance. He found her in the kitchen, preparing two bowls of some sort of porridge. Hearing Jormungandr enter, Mai looked up and pushed a bowl towards Jormungandr.

"Eat up. You must be hungry," Mia said.

Sitting down on a chair by the table in the middle of the kitchen, Jormungandr stared down at his porridge as Mia sat down across from him. Sensing his worry, Mia rested a hand on top of Jormungandr's. This time Jormungandr didn't slap her hand away but instead looked up with a sad expression on his face.

"He'll be alright," Mia assured. "Just give it some time. Medicine, no matter how advanced, takes time."

Jormungandr gave a small smile and moved his hand out from under Mia's and started eating his porridge. She was right, he _was_ starving. Before he knew it, the bowl was empty and he leaned back in his chair.

"Tell me about yourself," Jormungandr said suddenly.

"Umm," Mia muttered and swallowed a mouthful of porridge.

"How'd you get stuck here on Sakaar?" Jormungandr asked.

"It's a long story."

"I have time." When Mia didn't answer, Jormungandr added, "It's probably not as depressing as mine."

Setting down her spoon, Mia sighed. "Alright. Unlike you, I didn't fall here. My brother, Hayden, and I were poor growing up on Knowhere. When it got too difficult, our parents gave us to a man called The Collector in return for a lot of money. He traded us to his brother, The Grandmaster. Hayden was a contender while I learned how to heal others. Hayden died less than two years when he faced the Grandmaster's champion so it's just been me."

It was quiet for a while until Jormungandr spoke up. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Mia shook her head sadly. "It's alright. You're the first person to ask me about it and honestly, talking about it makes me feel better."

"What about you? Where are you from?" Mia asked after another pause.

Jormungandr took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I honestly don't know. My father abandoned me when I was really young. I was separated from my siblings for years. My older brother showed up one day and suggested that we find our other siblings. He tried to open a portal back to the land he came from but it failed and we ended up here. I suppose you can figure out the rest."

Mia opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by a barely audible groan from the room Sleipnir was in. Both of their heads swiveled at the same time in Sleipnir's direction. Pushing back in his chair, Jormungandr almost tripped standing up too fast. In a few short strides, he was kneeling by Sleipnir's side with Mia close behind him.

"Brother," Jormungandr said, clutching Sleipnir's cold hand. More color had returned and Sleipnir's eyes were almost all the way open. His heart rate and breathing had improved greatly in the short amount of time that he had in Mia's medical room.

Sleipnir's lips twitched at the corners, forming a weak smile. "J-Jormy..." Sleipnir breathed out, his voice weak and raspy.

Jormungandr broke out into a grin and he let out a sigh of relief. Sleipnir was on his way to making a full recovery, thanks to Mia's help.

"Don't talk. Rest up," Jormungandr said gently but firmly. "I want a chance to make things right between us. To be brothers, just like how we're supposed to be."

Jormungandr knew that he would do anything he could to keep his promise and make things right.

**Next chapter is coming sometime in the near future. Until then, feel free to leave a review. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Whew! It's been a minute. School is over so I had to turn in my laptop. I have to use my dad's old dinosaur work laptop. It takes a while to get going but I guess it works better than typing on my phone. A lot of things happened in the past few weeks that I want to share.**

**My older brother graduated from high school. We had graduation outside on the track/football field. Each student had two cars for parents and family/friends to watch on the hill that overlooks our football field. There's only like 30-ish students in his class so we could fit everyone and follow 'social distancing.' My brother, congrats to him, was salutatorian (2nd ranked in his class) of his class. He had to give the welcoming, which his speech was only 5 sentences but I don't think that I would have the courage to speak in front of that many people. We had a small gathering and I swear, there were 5 different types of cookies at our house plus two kinds of M&Ms and mints. I graduate next year so hopefully, everything is better by then.**

**My cousin is graduating from high school in a few days. She has nearly 600 kids in her class so they just drive up to their school, go inside to grab their diploma, and leave. I'm going to see her so I'm not going to be writing for about a week. Quarantine and restrictions have been lifted/lessened in my area but I'm still going to be careful. (Wash your hands, people!)**

**Suga/Agust D from BTS dropped his new mixtape/album and I'm freaking out cause his main song broke several records. I've been listening to that for a long time and I love it.**

**Disney+ (I wish I had it) released a new series called _Fury's Files_. I want to watch cause it's exactly how it sounds.**

**I also updated my website. There's a link in my profile. There is a new meme page (cause why not) and I added Mia as an official character. There are pictures of my characters in case my writing isn't clear enough. I can't draw so I used random dress-up/character designed games to create them.**

**Anyways, without further ado, enjoy this chapter! :)**

**Chapter Eight: Escape to Asgard**

A week passed as Sleipnir healed. Jormungandr stayed by his side as often as possible. Mia let Jormungandr stay in her apartment as long as he helped keep it clean. She had to leave to do other work for most of the day so Jormungandr practically had the whole apartment to himself since all Sleipnir ever did was sleep. Surprisingly, with all that extra time, he learned how to cook. Several days, much to her delight, Mia came home to find the table set with food.

Mia reported that the guards were looking for the two brothers and that, so far, she wasn't suspected of helping. Jormungandr was then forced to stay inside, to hide and to protect Sleipnir in case they were found.

By the end of the week, Sleipnir was strong enough to get out of bed to use the bathroom. He needed Jormungandr to hold onto him but Sleipnir was healing quickly. It was a bit weird helping his brother to use the bathroom, but Jormungandr endured it since Sleipnir would have fallen over without someone next to him. He also helped Sleipnir take a bath. He didn't know if it would have been weirder if Sleipnir could actually remember it or not.

One day, Sleipnir wanted to move to the couch. Jormungandr immediately stood up to help him but Sleipnir got out of bed without any help and slowly, but surely, made his way over to the couch. He eased himself down slowly and sighed in relief when he was fully seated.

"That was risky, you know," Jormungandr said sternly, still standing.

Sleipnir shrugged and stared out the window. "What's life without the risk?"

Jormungandr scoffed and sat down next to him. "You sound like me."

"I spend all my time around you and I'm bound to pick up some bad habits," Sleipnir teased.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jormungandr asked indignantly while sitting on the edge of the seat.

Sleipnir held up a hand to calm Jormungandr down. "It was merely a jest," Sleipnir assured. "Yet, you could learn how to express yourself through other means rather than just anger."

Jormungandr fell back against the soft couch cushions. "It's kind of hard to not be angry when the only view is that." Jormungandr motioned towards the window where they could see the city of Sakaar. The whole city was a pile of junk and he was tired of living on the crappy planet.

Sleipnir let out a small laugh and then clutched his side where his wound was healing. Jormungandr looked over at his brother in concern.

"It's fine," Sleipnir said, holding up his free hand. He took a deep breath and exhaled before adding, "What I meant was that you don't always have to act out in anger whenever something happens. It seems like you have an anger switch permanently left on."

Jormungandr huffed and then deflated. Sleipnir _did_ have a point. He was always angry. Angry at his father for abandoning him, at himself for almost killing his brother, and at the whole universe for making him live a horrible life. He _could_ dial it down a bit since things, for the first time in his life, were starting to look up.

Sinking further into the cushions, Jormungandr sighed. He glanced at Sleipnir through the corner of his eye. Sleipnir was focused on the window, his brow furrowed in thought.

"You know, when I found you in the m- in the room _way_ downstairs," Jormungandr corrected. He couldn't bring himself to say 'morgue' since it reminded him how close Sleipnir truly was to dying. "It's tough not knowing anyone and suddenly being stuck on a stupid planet full of people. It was a huge cultural shock and I didn't know how to react. I guess that I'm angry all the time because that's the only way I know how to respond."

Jormungandr paused and rethought his sentences to try to make it sound clearer. "What I'm trying to say is that what I said was - you probably don't remember what I said since you were practically in a coma - but I said that I wanted to learn how to be a better person, a better brother. And I meant it. I meant every single word."

It was quiet for a while before Sleipnir spoke up. "I'm sorry. I can't possibly imagine what life was like for you."

Jormungandr shrugged, trying hard to change the subject. All the talk of emotions and feelings made him feel uncomfortable. "It's fine. It's just that I saw the Grandmaster's champion almost kill you and I got so mad and protective. It was like everything narrowed down and I lost sense of my surroundings. The only thing that mattered was taking him down."

Sleipnir adjusted himself so that he was facing his brother. He folded one leg under the other and picked at his pant leg. "I don't want to sound mean but you threatened to kill me several times. Why the sudden change? Why did you save me?"

The evident concern and confusion in Sleipnir's voice hit something inside Jormungandr. Having one's brother question why he was saved really hurt as if Sleipnir didn't trust him, which was reasonable. Yet, Jormungandr couldn't help feeling regretful at those words.

"I wasn't serious," Jormungandr said after closing his eyes to hold back the tears that started welling up in his eyes. "I never meant to hurt you like that. When I saw you on the ground, because of me, I realized that I needed you. You're the only one who ever tried to treat me as an equal. You tried to be a brother to me and I thought that I lost my only chance at having a normal life. I needed to work on myself before I got close to anyone so that's why I was threatening you. I needed space. So don't ever think that I wanted you dead when I was trying to figure myself out."

All that Sleipnir had to say was "Oh." In honesty, Sleipnir was at a loss of words for the sudden confession.

When Sleipnir didn't add anything more, Jormungandr turned to him. "Can I ask why you did it?"

Sleipnir looked up from the loose string that he was picking on his pant leg. "Did what?"

"Saved the champion," Jormungandr continued. "Why'd you save him? I mean, he tried to kill you."

Sleipnir sighed. "I saw something in him like there was another side to him that was trapped. It seemed like there was a man trapped inside the beast, struggling to get out, struggling to overcome his anger." Sleipnir finally pulled the string loose and flicked it onto the floor before continuing. "He reminded me of you. You both were dealing with a lot of anger and I thought that maybe I could fix that. But I guess I was wrong."

"Wrong?" Jormungandr repeated. "You're right about me; I'm sure that you're right about him too. At least you have someone to fix, 'cause I'm a broken mess."

"Oh, don't that say that," Sleipnir said. "He seemed like a good man, just like you. You're a good person who was dealt a bad hand. Your situation doesn't define you; what you do and respond to that situation is what defines you. Brother, you're _not_ a mess."

"Not a mess?" Jormungandr's voice raised up several dials and he scooted to the edge of the couch. "I _enjoy _fighting in the arena, I get mad at everyone and blame others for my problems, and I've _almost killed my own brother_! Doesn't that sound like a mess to you?!"

"I forgive you for that," Sleipnir said quietly.

"Why?" Jormungandr questioned. "Why? I don't deserve such forgiveness. I almost _killed_ you!

"Maybe because I don't see only the bad in people. Maybe because I understand that others are experiencing hidden situations that, unfortunately, affect them so much that it causes them to act out in ways that seem wrong to most people. Everyone makes mistakes-"

"And that was just a simple 'mistake,' huh? Someone's going to take advantage of you if you keep trusting people like that."

"And _you_ are going to miss out on a lot of potential friendships if you keep hating everyone like that. Sure, I could learn how to be less trusting but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt because most people are inherently good. Bad things happen to good people and sometimes they just need someone to understand them. A simple, kind gesture could unknowingly change someone's life."

"And what happens if they screw you over? What then? You're going to be hurt by a lot of people."

"Then I will give them a second chance, just like you did for me."

Jormungandr blinked in surprise at Sleipnir's statement. "What?"

"I made a big mistake, which I regret because I hate it here. But you eventually came around and gave me another chance to make up my mistake by saving me. It took something huge for that to happen but you evidently trust me enough to save me," Sleipnir explained.

Jormungandr's jaw dropped open and he stuttered over his words in shock. "B-But y-you're n-not...you're not the one who needs a second chance. I am."

"Everyone makes mistakes, brother. I hope that you can forgive me for that."

"But it was _my_ fault! I pushed you too hard. I don't understand why in all the Nine Realms you think that it was your fault."

Whatever Sleipnir had to say next was interrupted by Mia suddenly bursting into the apartment. The brothers turned at the same time to see Mia breathing heavily as if she just ran. Her dress was bunched up in her hands, the strap slipping off her left shoulder. Her brown hair was a mess and her eyes were wide in fear.

"What's wrong?" Sleipnir asked.

"The champion has gone missing!" Mia cried through gasps of breath. "The new contender went missing too!"

"The thunder guy?" Jormungandr asked. Apparently last night a new contender showed up and almost won against the champion. Jormungandr wished he had seen the fight but he couldn't leave Sleipnir by himself. News traveled fast on Sakaar so Sleipnir and Jormungandr had the whole run-down of what happened.

"Yeah, and it's like they disappeared! The Grandmaster ordered everyone to search for them. Apparently he thinks that they're trying to escape," Mia explained.

"But Korg said that there is no way out," Sleipnir pointed out.

"There is, through the portals," Mia said, pointing out the window towards the sky where countless gateways dropped junk into the ever-growing piles. "Nobody ever makes it that far because the guards shoot them down or the ships aren't strong enough to make it through. The only ship that can make it through safely is the Grandmaster's personal ship. And he never lets anyone near it unless he's using it himself."

"So?" Jormungandr asked. He didn't see the problem. If people wanted to leave, good for them. He wanted to leave as well but he didn't really see any options.

"'_So_?'" Mia repeated. "The Grandmaster sent out more guards than ever before. They're looking for you two as well!"

The brothers looked at each other in surprise.

"What?" Sleipnir.

"He ordered a public execution if any of you is caught," Mia added. "It's not safe here."

"It's not safe out there either," Sleipnir pointed out. "If we take a step outside, we're dead."

Jormungandr shook his head and stood up as several ideas popped into his head. "Not if they are focused on finding the other two. I'm sure that his highest priority is finding his champion, not us. We've been missing for two weeks and I doubt that he cares _that_ much about us if we haven't been found yet."

"And?" Sleipnir asked an eyebrow raised as he waited for Jormungandr to continue.

"And we can use this distraction to get out of here! We're not safe anymore and I'm sick and tired of staying here doing nothing. We steal a ship, fly to the portals, and get back to Asgard just like how you wanted to from the start."

"Didn't you hear Mia?" Sleipnir asked. "None of the ships are capable of flying through the portals. Even if we get that far, and that's a big _if_, we will never make it through."

"Who says that we're flying through?" Jormungandr said.

Mia and Sleipnir exchanged confused looks. "Isn't that what you said?" Sleipnir asked.

"No," Jormungandr stated. "We fly _to_ the portals. I never said _through_."

"Are you going to elaborate or are we going to sit here staring at each other forever?" Sleipnir asked sarcastically.

Jormungandr started pacing in excitement. Sleipnir's eyes followed his brother's movements while Mia stood frozen in place by the door. "You have the ability to create portals, right?"

"I do but you know how that turned out last time."

"But what if you don't _create_ one? What if instead we get close enough to a preexisting one and you take control of it? That's probably a lot easier."

Sleipnir opened his mouth to argue but then paused. "That...that might actually work."

"I can show you where the ships are," Mia offered. "Most of the guards are out in the city looking for the champion instead of in the palace. We should have a clear path."

Jormungandr clapped his hands together in confirmation. "Then it's decided! We leave now!"

Spinning on his heel, Jormungandr strode over to where his battle-axe was laid on the kitchen table and slid it into the sheath on his back. He handed Sleipnir his two swords that Mia had stolen a few days ago. For someone as quiet as her, she had a knack for stealing things.

Sleipnir sighed and stood up as he strapped his swords' sheaths across his back. "What if I can't take control? What then?"

"If you look even slightly sick, we're ditching the plan and finding a remote place to hide until you're strong enough," Jormungandr said.

Sleipnir nodded and stood next to Jormungandr as Mia opened the door. She poked her head through and looked both ways before motioning for the two to follow.

"We have to be careful, for his sake," Mia said and nodded at Sleipnir. "There's only one fully capable fighter here."

Jormungandr nodded and stepped behind Sleipnir to keep an eye on his brother. Mia led the way, keeping Sleipnir safe in the middle.

The going was slower than any of them liked since Sleipnir had to rest a few times and couldn't walk that fast. Mia tried to take all the least traveled routes yet they still ran into too many guards to count. Jormungandr fought off as many as he could but Sleipnir had to step in and help on more than one occasion.

Rounding a corner, Mia ran right into a wall.

No, not a wall, a person.

Strong hands caught her on the upper arms to stop her from falling back.

"Sorry," a deep voice apologized and set her upright.

With wide eyes, Mia recognized the person who she ran into.

"Y-You're the Lord of Thunder!" Mia exclaimed.

The man nodded. He wore a sleeveless armour top that showed off his large, tan muscles. His blonde hair was cut short as all the contenders were required to. He towered over not only Mia but the two brothers as well. A slightly shorter man with long, jet black hair and pale skin standing behind the blonde rolled his eyes.

"You better not tell anyone where we are or an unfortunate accident might fall upon you," the dark-haired man threatened.

The Lord of Thunder held up his hand in annoyance. "Brother, please. They are just kids."

Jormungandr stepped out from behind Sleipnir and braced an arm in front of Sleipnir to protect him. "Don't you dare threaten my brother like that," Jormungandr hissed, his axe twisting angrily in his other hand.

"Jormy, stop," Sleipnir pleaded, never taking his eyes off the dark-haired man. Something about him seemed familiar yet he couldn't remember from where.

To the two men, Sleipnir said, "Let us pass and we will not tell anyone where you are. We all want off this planet so I suggest that we both keep quiet about this. It will be better for all of us."

The Lord of Thunder let a smile cross his bearded face. "He reminds me of you, brother," he said to the other man. The other man rolled his eyes again and gestured for the blonde to go forward.

"We don't have much time," the dark-haired man said. "We should leave, _now."_

The blonde nodded and gave the trio plenty of space when he walked by them. The other man followed closely but turned his head to give the trio one last glance before disappearing around the corner.

Once they were gone, Mia sighed. "Isn't he handsome?" she asked dreamily.

"Who? The Thunder guy or other dude?" Jormungandr asked. Sleipnir stood staring down the hallway, quieter than usual.

"The Lord of Thunder," Mia said. "It's like his muscles are made out of a form of metal fiber..."

"Whoa there, missy," Jormungandr interrupted. "He's way too old for you and we're getting off track. Besides, the other guy has a better fashion sense. Nice and dark."

He motioned for Mia to lead the way, which she did reluctantly. They had gone a few paces before they realized that Sleipnir hadn't moved from his spot.

"Hey, horse-boy, get moving!" Jormungandr called. Sleipnir stirred and jogged to join them after he gave one last look down the hall.

"Did he seem familiar to you?" Sleipnir asked once they started walking again.

"Which one?" Jormungandr asked.

"Both," Sleipnir stated. "It's like I have seen them before but I cannot figure out when I saw them."

"I don't know about you but I saw the goth-guy with the Grandmaster doing something that I don't want to talk about," Jormungandr said.

"The blonde said that they were brothers," Sleipnir said.

Jormungandr scoffed. "They look nothing alike. If anything, the goth-guy looks like you."

"Really? He looks like _you."_

"He looks like both of you," Mia suddenly pointed out. "Now that we're done discussing similarities, we should decide which way to go."

They decided upon taking the stairs since it seemed safer but Sleipnir almost fell down them after walking up two stories. Luckily, Jormungandr's fast reflexes caught Sleipnir on the arm just in time to stop him from tumbling down several flights of stairs. Mia suggested that they take the elevator instead to give Sleipnir a break.

Sleipnir slumped down against the glass as the elevator ascended to the garage where all the ships were. Jomrungandr stood protectively in front of the doors, ready to spring into action. Mia looked out over the city as they rose, just in case they were attacked from the outside.

Surprisingly, they managed to reach the hanger floor without anyone else bothering them while on the elevator.

However, when the doors slid open, Mia spotted several guards standing with their backs to the group not too far away. The Grandmaster's main ship, the Commodore, was missing but most of the ships were still there.

Holding the door open with her hand, Mia leaned over to Jormungandr and whispered, "Get to the nearest ship. Most of them are easy to figure out how to start. I'll distract the guards."

"Why can't we just fight them?" Jormungandr asked. He counted six guards. They could take them, easily.

"Because your brother needs to save his energy for controlling the portal," Mia replied with a nod in Sleipnir's direction. Sleipnir, bless his soul, tried to look like he wasn't about to collapse but sweat had started rolling down his face and he didn't look like he could handle fighting.

"I'll fight them, then," Jormungandr offered.

Mia let out a tired laugh. "You? I'm sorry but the most we ever fought today was maybe two at a time. There's six against one and you're tired, too. It'll be easier the other way."

"How are you going to get on the ship, then?"

Mia shook her head. "I'm not coming with."

"What?" Sleipnir and Jormungandr exclaimed at the same time. Mia gave them a weak attempt at a reassuring smile before she turned and ran out of the elevator.

"Mia, wait!" Jormungandr whispered hoarsely through gritted teeth. "_Mia!"_

Mia, unfortunately, was too far away to hear. She waved her hands to get the guards' attention and took off running into an opposite hallway with the guards in hot pursuit.

"Dammit!" Jormungandr let out a slew of curses as Sleipnir grabbed his arm and practically dragged him to the nearest ship.

The ship was a small one, a silver color, and shaped like a box. It didn't seem the most practical but they didn't know if the guards would come back and it was the closest to them. Sleipnir yanked open the door and climbed inside. Jormungandr gave one look at the hall that Mia ran down and then climbed inside after Sleipnir tugged on his cape to remind him that they needed to leave.

Swearing the whole way, Jormungandr found the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's seat. The console, luckily, was labeled on the buttons and levers. Jormungandr located the 'on' switch and flicked it on. He pushed the throttle all the way down and the thrusters fired up and lifted them off the ground. It took a few bumpy tries to get it to do more than just hover but Jormungandr eventually moved forward out of the hanger.

Looking out the small, rectangular window, Sleipnir noticed that the guards had returned and were shaking their fists at them. Mia was nowhere to be seen.

The bright light of the open sky made Sleipnir blink and stumble away from the window. He wanted to help Jormungandr fly the ship but there was only one pilot seat.

Jormungandr, for his part, was trying his best to not crash. They clipped a couple of buildings and almost got hit by several falling chunks of trash.

Up ahead, a large chase was blocking the path to the largest portal. Countless ships were pursuing a round, orange ship that was making its way to the largest portal. Apparently, the escapee had the same idea as the two brothers.

"Get closer," Sleipnir said, resting his hand on the back of Jormungandr's seat to keep his balance.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Jormungandr asked sarcastically and barely swerved to the side to avoid running into a large rock sticking out of the water.

The orange ship suddenly flew right into the largest portal and disappeared. The pursuing ships stopped and turned around.

"Huh," Jormungandr said. "That must be the Lord of Thunder and the other guy. They actually did it."

"Focus on flying, not what others are doing," Sleipnir snapped as he fell against the wall at a sudden movement.

Jormungandr yanked against the steering device, sending the box ship straight up. Sleipnir tumbled to the back of the cockpit, clutching at the air in a failed attempt to keep his balance.

"Keep it steady," Sleipnir said, getting frustrated and unwillingly bruised.

"You fly then," Jormungandr snapped back. He narrowly missed being hit by a large piece of metal that appeared to come from a spaceship.

Sleipnir gritted his teeth and braced himself in a corner of the cockpit, keeping his legs apart and pushed up against the bottom of the pilot's seat to keep him anchored in the corner. He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on controlling the portal.

A sharp pain tugged at his chest and knot formed in his stomach yet he ignored it and focused on the manipulatable properties of the portal. He twisted the parts into forming a portal to his desired designation, Asgard. Images of Asgard flooded his mind and he connected the other end of the gateway to the Bifrost. It was easier to control it once it was connected to a preexisting strong point so Sleipnir started imagining the multicolored portal wrapping around Jormungandr and himself.

Nausea welled up in Sleipnir's stomach and he was on the verge of passing out when he gave it one last pull.

The large portal suddenly shrank down and pulled Sleipnir and Jormungandr out the ship, sending them hurtling through space and time.

He had done it, hopefully.

**The next chapter might take a while since it's going to be long and I haven't even started it yet. I want to talk about the box ship. It might not seem practical but Taika Waititi said in a scene breakdown of Thor Ragnarok that he designed his own ship and it was a box. I wanted to use the ship since it seemed funny and I like Taika Waititi as a director. I can't wait for Thor 4; he really made Thor ten times better. Here's a link to the video if you want to watch: ** watch?v=7WahFlp7LKI **or look up "Thor Ragnarok's Director Breaks Down a Fight Scene." Feel free to leave a review and I will see you in the next chapter! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**It's been a while. My parents want me to get a job so that I can pay for college in a couple of years so I've been looking around for one. It's tough because I'm an introvert who really doesn't want to do anything that involves talking to people, even practically all part-time jobs involve talking to people. It also took way too long to write this chapter. I hope that everyone's summer is going well so far. I know that it's hot here, but not as hot it was in Texas. My cousin and I took a short walk in the morning when I was down in Texas and I was sweating. Sweatin! In the morning! What?! I don't understand how people can live in really hot places but I suppose that where I live it's hot during the summer and freezing during the way too long winter. :/ Anyway, enjoy! :)**

**Chapter Nine: Ragnarok**

The giant wolf would not back down but he was losing.

He received hit after hit from an angry green beast, only slowing the green beast down when he caught him by the leg and dragged him underwater. Considering the smaller size of the green mass of pure muscle, it came to a surprise when the beast uppercut him on the bottom of his jaw, flipping him onto his back.

He expected to land on the rocky bottom of the ground but he never landed.

The force of the punch sent him over the edge of the realm, falling down with the waterfall. He struggled to cling onto something but his paws were not made to grab hold of slippery rocks.

Water filled his nostrils and he choked, scrabbling at the rocks in the hope that he would catch himself before he fell off the realm. Just as he was about to fall into the void, his hand caught onto something and he let out a high-pitched cry.

Wait, _hand?_

Looking up in shock and sputtering when he received a face full of water, he saw a lightly tanned hand gripping at a rock.

Weird, he had _paws_ not _hands..._

Trailing down the hand, he found that the arm _was_ indeed attached to his body. But it wasn't his body. At least not his real one.

He realized that he appeared to be similar to those Asgardians who were trying to escape on the bridge, strangely clothed in orange and silver armour with an orange cape that billowed out behind him. All his fur that he was used to was now a pile of dark curls on the top of his head. His face felt much smaller and had duller teeth. His sense of hearing had not diminished as he was able to hear the sounds of battle slowly fading through the roar of the waterfall. The smell of blood and salty water filled his nostrils.

The force of the water kept pushing against him and he grabbed hold of the rock with both his hands. Coughing and sputtering, he tried to climb back up but the feeling of having opposable thumbs was strange to him and he kept slipping. His armour had absorbed a lot of water, which weighed him down drastically.

The water, the fight, this whole new _body_ \- what the Helheim was happening?!

So focused on trying not to drown or fall off was he that he barely heard a name through the rushing water. A voice was shouting a name, trying to get someone's attention.

No, not just a name, _his name._

"Fenris!" the voice shouted again way above him.

Looking up, he saw a boy around his age with green hair and dark armour floating under the water. He had anchored himself to a rock with his feet and had his hand extended towards him, motioning for Fenris to grab onto.

"Fenris!" the boy called after he swam to the surface of the water to breathe. "Focus!"

Fenris shook a lock of sopping wet hair out of his eyes and started to climb faster, being careful not to slip. When he was close enough, he took a deep breath, reached up, and grasped hands with the green-haired boy who was back underwater. The boy dragged him up onto the edge and swam to the surface.

Gasping and sputtering Fenris clung onto the boy as the boy swam away from the waterfall. The boy stopped at a pillar that held up the rainbow bridge and held onto it, taking a break.

"Who are you? Why are you here? What is happening?!" Fenris asked once he caught his breath. His eyes opened wide in shock once he noticed that the Asgardians were gone and that the whole city was on fire. Why was the city on fire?

The boy gently grabbed hold of Fenris by the jaw and turned his head away from the fire.

"I'm going to get you the Helheim out of here," the boy said. He moved in Fenris's line of vision when he saw that Fenris was staring over his shoulder towards the blazing city. A large fire demon was dragging his gigantic sword through the buildings and dark spikes were jutting out of the ground. It was a mess and one that Fenris wanted no part in.

"What the Helheim..." Fenris muttered.

"Hey!" the boy said and slapped him across the face. Fenris recoiled more from surprise than pain and held his cheek as he stared wide-eyed at the green-haired boy.

"I need you to focus," the boy said, this time more gently.

Tears started streaming down Fenris's face, luckily mixing in with the water dripping from his hair so that the boy wouldn't tell that he was crying. He had no idea what was happening. One moment he was asleep under the palace then he was awake and fighting a green beast that would have drowned him if the strange green-haired boy hadn't saved him.

"I don't know who you are..." Fenris cried. His anxiety was overloading his system and he felt like he was about to collapse from sensory overload. His ADHD was starting to go crazy, too, and it did _nothing_ to help him calm down.

The boy gripped Fenris's shoulders and stared him right in the eyes. Up close, Fenris noticed that the boy had bright golden-yellow eyes with a vertical scar across his left eye. It made him ten times more intimidating and only made Fenris more scared. His whole body was shaking but the boy's grip never wavered.

"My name is Jormungandr," the boy said, his voice calm amidst the horrors happening in the city. "I'm your brother."

/\/\/\/\/\

The two brothers stumbled onto the floor of the Bifrost. Sleipnir crashed into the middle platform and landed hard onto his knees. Jormungandr fell onto his rear in the same position where he had been sitting on a pilot's seat moments before.

"Is this Asgard?" Jormungandr asked as he got to his feet.

"Yes," Sleipnir said and rested his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

"Is Asgard usually on fire?" Jormungandr asked, staring open-mouthed at the city.

"What?!" Sleipnir exclaimed, standing straight up and turning around.

Sure enough, there was a large raging fire with an enormous fire demon standing right where the palace used to be. Dark smoke curled up into the sky, making it hazy and blocking out the sun. Dark spikes were sticking out of the ground and were flying through the air. One of the spikes hit the fire demon and he stumbled. A ship could be seen flying away in the distance.

"What in all the Nine Realms?!" Sleipnir shouted, fumbling around to grab onto Jormungandr's arm.

"What'd you do?" Jormungandr asked.

"Nothing! It wasn't like this when I left," Sleipnir said. He suddenly turned towards Jormungandr and gripped his arm tighter.

"Jormy, our siblings are in there!"

"Where? If they're smart enough, they wouldn't be in the middle of the fire," Jormungandr pointed out.

"Don't you see?" Sleipnir asked and pointed to where the spikes were seemingly flying out of thin air and attacking the fire demon. "That has to be someone making those."

Squinting, Jormungandr stepped out of the Bifrost and closer to the mess of a city. With his enhanced eyesight, he could barely make out the shadow of a figure.

"Are you sure?" Jormungandr asked. "That could be anyone."

"I can _feel_ them here!" Sleipnir exclaimed. "They _have _to be here!"

Suddenly, a sharp cry pierced the air. Whipping their heads towards the sound in unison, the two brothers saw a bright orange cape bobbing in and out of the waterfall.

Sleipnir looked over at Jormungandr expectantly, earning a sigh from the younger.

"What's his name?" Jormungandr asked.

"Fenris," Sleipnir answered. "Our sister is Hela."

Jormungandr took a deep breath and shook himself out. "I got him. You go get her."

With that, Jormungandr jumped off the side of the bridge and executed a perfect dive into the water. Sleipnir waited until he saw Jormungandr pop back up and swim over to the edge before he took off sprinting down the bridge.

The bridge was long but it had been broken into two. Sleipnir barely noticed this and skidded to a halt in time to stop him from sliding over the edge. He looked down at the large gap, judging whether or not he could jump across when he heard a frustrated yell coming from his right.

Turning towards the yell, Sleipnir saw a woman clothed in black and green sending spikes up toward the fire demon. Her helmet hid her hair and most of her face and she was far off but Sleipnir knew instantly that she was his sister Hela.

"Hela!" Sleipnir shouted in hopes that he would get her attention.

Hela, however, didn't answer. She was too focused on attacking the fire demon to notice him. The fire demon was ignoring her, for now. Instead, he was slicing his sword through any building that he could reach.

While trying to think of a way to get her attention, Jormungandr caught up with Sleipnir with a sopping wet boy with curly dark hair who had his arms wrapped around Jormungandr's waist. The curly-haired boy was breathing heavily, shaking, and looking around at everything in fear with wide eyes.

"I got him, now what?" Jormungandr asked.

"We need to get close to her," Sleipnir said and nodded in Hela's direction.

"What the Helheim, she's crazy!" Jormungandr exclaimed once he found where Hela was standing.

"No crazier than you!" Sleipnir snapped.

Jormungandr looked offended and opened his mouth to speak when Sleipnir took a deep breath and laid a hand on Jormungandr's shoulder.

"Who is he?" Fenris asked Jormungandr, staring unblinking at Sleipnir.

"I'll explain later," Jormungandr said to Fenris. "All that matters is what in Nine Realms are you doing, _Sleipnir_?"

"Sending us over there," Sleipnir said simply.

"Wha-"

Jormungandr was cut off as a portal suddenly opening underneath the trio's feet. The other end of the portal opened up and the trio landed just a couple feet away from where Hela stood in the midst of countless large spikes. She was gritting her teeth and was focused on attacking the fire demon.

"Hela!" Sleipnir called and took a step towards her.

"What are you doing?!" Jormungandr hissed. "She looks like she could kill you!"

"I'm used to it!" Sleipnir hissed back and stepped closer to her while calling: "Hela!"

This time, Hela's concentration was broken and she turned her head towards the trio. A shocked expression crossed her face, melting away the murderous look she had on just seconds ago. She seemed to de-age right in front of them, reverting back to the younger age that she truly was.

"Wha-" she muttered, her eyes going wide.

"Grab my hand!" Sleipnir called and reached out towards her. Jormungandr grabbed hold of Sleipnir's other hand and pulled Fenris closer protectively.

Hela gasped and glanced back towards the fire demon. The fire demon spun his sword over his head and clutched it with both hands, right before sending it straight down towards Hela.

Hela screamed and quickly grabbed Sleipnir's hand. Sleipnir quickly squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated. He had never opened a portal this fast before and the blinding pain that came from doing so almost knocked him out.

Yet, he managed to yank all four of them out of the aim of the fire demon mere seconds before the fire demon's sword sank into where they had been standing.

/\/\/\/\/\

A sonic boom pulsed through the walls of the throne room as the quartet tumbled out of the portal, all landing rather ungracefully. Luckily, only one person was around to see their clumsy entrance.

A man with a dark beard and light blonde hair looked up from where he was sulking at the foot of the stairs leading up to the throne. He was dressed in a simple white T-shirt and blue jeans, unusual for someone who was alone in a royal throne room. He clutched the stairs for support as the ground shook from the sudden portal opening and stared in shock at the newcomers.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the man demanded.

Sleipnir was the one who got up first. He brushed himself off and glanced down at his younger siblings. Hela was sitting with her arms curled around her knees, crying and muttering something to herself as she slowly rocked back and forth. Fenris had never let go of Jormungandr, his eyes still wide open that Sleipnir was afraid that they were frozen that way as he clutched Jormungandr around the waist. Jormungandr had a grimace on his face and was looking slightly sick. He looked around the throne room, his mouth dropping open at the splendor of it.

Tall pillars of beautifully carved marble stood proudly at the edges of the hall. The ceiling matched the pillars, both cream-colored with silver flakes embedded in the stone. The floor was made out of black granite. Balls of fire were set in silver bowls that were connected to the pillars, which lit up the area with a soft glow. The walls were the same cream-colored marble as the pillars, but in addition, they had tall windows of glass that looked out over the garden. Granite steps led up to the throne, dark silver shaped into a high-backed chair with armrests and dark green leather padding that looked surprisingly comfortable. It was a simply designed throne, but it sat up there proudly. It seemed to invite people over, but still, cast an air of authority.

"Where are we?" Sleipnir asked the man who had already gotten to his feet and was standing in an aggressive position. He was staring warily at the group, his light blue eyes blazing with suspicion.

"Valhalla, why?" the man questioned, his voice thick with an accent.

"And where is that at?" Sleipnir asked.

"It's a realm," the man said. He blinked and raised an eyebrow in confusion. "And usually people don't randomly show up here unless you're dead."

"WE'RE DEAD?!" Fenris shouted in distress. He had just gotten to his feet with Jormungandr's help but his knees went weak and he would have fallen if Jormungandr didn't catch him.

"I don't think so," the man said, trying to sound reassuring but Sleipnir could hear the doubt in his voice. "But how else could you get here? Valhalla is the afterlife, the place everyone goes when they die."

Jormungandr glared over Fenris's shoulder at Sleipnir. "I thought we were safe. What happened? Did you mess up again?"

Sleipnir held up his hands in defense. "I thought that I got us out of there in time! I've never done something that quick before but surely we were out of the way!"

"Well, _blondy _over here says that the only way to get here is if you die! How else would we wind up here?!" Jormungandr shouted and stood up, leaving Fenris to sit alone on the floor. "Face it, we're dead!"

"We're not dead," Hela spoke up from the floor. She hadn't moved from her spot. Tears ran down her pale cheeks, messing up her black mascara in the process. She stared at the floor, her voice wavering as she continued, "We're here because of me. All of this my fault!"

Hela collapsed into a fit of sobs as everyone except Fenris, who was lost in his own misery, stared at her.

"What does that mean? We're here because of her?" Jormungandr asked out loud.

The blonde man answered for Hela. "She's the queen of this realm. I guess that whatever you tried to do was affected by her."

"She's the queen?" Sleipnir exclaimed.

"Cool but do you know this," Jormungandr questioned the man.

"I'm her boyfriend and the prince of this realm," the man answered, his eyes filled with pity at Hela's sobbing form.

"She has a boyfriend?!" Jormungandr exclaimed angrily.

"And what is wrong with that?" the man snapped, his temper rising. "I don't know who you are; as far as I know, you could have kidnapped her! One of you opened a portal and she _disappeared_ in a portal a couple of days ago! How do I know that you didn't do anything bad to her? I mean, she's _crying_!"

"We're her brothers, _you jackass!_" Jormungandr shouted, stepping up close to the man. "Don't you _ever_ assume that we would hurt her when she's our little sister!"

Fenris whimpered and hid behind Sleipnir in fear of Jormungandr's anger. Sleipnir felt Fenris's hand brush his back and he turned to see the younger boy staring up at him with a terrified expression on his face.

"She doesn't have any brothers!" the man snapped back, squaring up against Jormungandr and switching the attention back to himself.

Jormungandr let out a fake laugh. "Oh, puh-lease! Why would we lie?"

"Because maybe you did kidnap her. We were just sitting there, watching TV, when she got a headache and disappeared into a portal that was very similar to the one that you just came through!"

"I'm not the one who's in charge of that. Maybe you're the one who messed with her. I've never seen her until now!"

"That's hard to believe. Prove it!"

"I don't need to prove anything to _you_!" Jormungandr hissed.

Jormungandr and the man's argument kept increasing in volume, each resorting to insults, wild accusations, and swears. Fenris, the poor kid, was absolutely terrified of Jormungandr's change and pressed closer into Sleipnir's side, clutching Sleipnir's cape as if it were a safety blanket.

Just when the argument almost reached to turning physical, Hela stood up, clenched her fists by her side, and shouted: "ENOUGH!"

Her voice bounced off the walls and echoed through the throne room, silencing the group. Jormungandr, who had his fist raised to hit the man, lowered it, and stared at Hela in shock.

"Why are we arguing?" Hela questioned, her voice strained from crying. Her mascara ran down her face and her long, dark hair was tangled in several places. She looked like she was on the verge of collapsing and was slightly shaking.

"Pietro, please," Hela said, addressing the blonde man. "I don't blame them for anything. You have a sister, Pietro, you should know. I always felt like part of life was missing, like something was there that I couldn't remember. And when I had that headache, it felt like what I was missing came back but for some reason, it was replaced with memories I never had. Fake memories of wars that I never fought in, a false father I never had. I don't know what happened but those memories are not true. I've been here in Valhalla for all my life. I never went to Asgard until now."

"Hela, but how do you know that these three are your brothers?" Pietro, the blonde, asked. His voice was a lot quieter and gentler, even though he was still standing ready to move in case Jormungandr sucker-punched him. "If you've never been to Asgard until recently, how can you tell that you are related to them?"

"She was just a baby," Sleipnir said, his voice surprisingly calm despite witnessing the argument not even a minute before. "She wouldn't remember because of that but we were separated shortly after she was born. Separated for reasons that I have yet to understand.

"You may not trust us but please note that we are not here to hurt anyone. We are all confused and a little scared of this new situation," Sleipnir continued. "If anything, maybe knowing our names will help. I'm Sleipnir and I'm the oldest. Jormungandr is the second oldest and although he may seem...difficult, he means well."

Jormungandr rolled his eyes at Sleipnir's introduction, earning a skeptical look from Pietro.

Sleipnir placed a gentle hand on Fenris's shoulder, who peeked out from behind Sleipnir's cape. "This is Fenris, he's the second youngest. Hela, as you surely know already, is the youngest. We mean no harm. All we want is to find out the truth of what happened and why we were separated."

"Abandoned," Jormungandr corrected, crossing his arms in front of his chest, still glaring at Pietro.

Pietro relaxed a little bit but kept his eye on Jormungandr. He gave Sleipnir a nod and backed away to stand next to Hela. Hela, instinctively, leaned her head against Pietro's shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer to him.

"I think I know what might have happened," Pietro offered up. "There's an old man who showed up here shortly before Hela disappeared. I talked to him since he's waiting for a trial to decide whether he goes to Valhalla or Helheim. His fate is not decided yet and everyone was talking about it so I went and visited him. He talked about the same thing that you are but he thinks that he never did anything wrong. I'm not completely sure but I think that he's your grandfather."

The two older brothers' mouths dropped open and they exchanged glances.

"He's dead?" Jormungandr asked, feeling a mix of excitement, triumph, and confusion. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Because you were yelling at me!" Pietro complained and then quickly switched subjects when Jormungandr glared at him. "I'm not sure but maybe his death caused all of your blocked off memories to come back. I don't know how spells and magic and curses work but maybe his death caused some side effects. I mean, a flood of Asgardian souls came in just recently. The reapers are having a hard time trying to sort them out."

"It's not him," Hela said, her voice barely above a whisper. She raised her head and looked sadly at the group as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. "It was me. I killed all of them! I wanted the throne of Asgard and they stood in my way so I wiped them out. Innocent lives, _children_! How could I?!"

Pietro turned to Hela and placed his hands on her shoulders as sobs racked her body. "Hela, _babe_, it wasn't your fault. You didn't know what you were doing," Pietro said, trying to calm her down but she shook her head.

"I knew _exactly_ what I was doing! Most of Asgard is gone, because of _me_! And they wouldn't have escaped if Asgard wasn't destroyed. Asgard is in pieces and it's all my fault! Their home is ruined! Asgard is _ruined!_

"I'm a queen and now I have to deal with their souls. What would they think of a queen who kills her own citizens? I slaughtered them as if they weren't my people! I'm a murderer! A murderous queen!"

Hela's knees gave out from under her and she collapsed. Pietro knelt down beside her and tried to pull her into a hug but she pushed him away.

"No!" Hela cried. "I don't want to hurt you, too!"

Pietro, who looked heartbroken, gently grabbed Hela's wrist and pulled her to her feet. She tried to break free but Pietro ignored her protests and gently walked her away from the group. He looked over his shoulder at the trio, who were at a loss for words, and gave them a sad smile.

"I'm taking her somewhere else to calm down," Pietro said. "Feel free to make yourself at home. The guards can show you to your rooms."

With that, Pietro faced forward and led Hela, who had reverted back to quiet sobs, through the large double doors of the throne room, leaving the trio to stand in silence.

A few minutes passed before Jormungandr spoke up, "Well, I'm going to find our grandfather and give him a good ass-whipping."

He made sure that his battle-axe was strapped firmly to his back and spun on his heel. He was in mid-stride, half-way down the hall, when Sleipnir called after him.

"You're not to talk to him alone," Sleipnir called, stopping Jormungandr in his tracks.

"I never said anything about 'talking,'" Jormungandr retorted.

"Still, you're not going right now."

"Why not? He deserves it."

"Because you might do something irrational and we are all too tired to think reasonably right now. Rest up, eat something, and we'll talk to him tomorrow, _together_."

Jormungandr rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine! I'm going for a walk 'cause if I stand around doing nothing, I'm gonna start breaking things."

Sleipnir watched Jormungandr leave through the same doors that Pietro and Hela had. Even though they were in separate areas, Sleipnir could feel the anger from Jormungandr. He understood why Jormungandr wanted to confront their grandfather but seeing Hela in tears and Fenris frozen in fear made Sleipnir realize that they needed a break. They had just come from a realm that had blown up after barely making it through a portal from a gladiatorial planet where they had almost died on countless occasions. Their lives were going nonstop once their repressed memories were released. And to be completely honest, Sleipnir felt like passing out, his wound hurt, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to listen to their grandfather's side of the truth without losing it.

A couple of guards in armour similar to the ones on Asgard, except the colors were silver instead of gold, came over to Sleipnir and Fenris and offered to show them to their rooms. Sleipnir gladly obliged and followed closely behind through winding halls. Fenris held onto Sleipnir's hand and kept close to his side. The walls were decorated with green and black banners, standing out against the light-colored stone. It felt like home, even though Sleipnir barely remembered being inside Asgard's castle.

Finally, the guards stopped in a wing off the main hallway where several doors led to several bedrooms and living areas. The guards let the two brothers choose their rooms and then left them alone.

Sleipnir chose a room to the right and led Fenris through the door. Fenris sat down on the plush, four-poster canopy bed. The bed was queen-sized and had soft, cream-colored sheets and comforter in addition to soft pillows. The canopy was a light orange color and was tied back against the dark wooden posts. A large bay, arch top window with a soft window seat looked out over the entrance of the palace from several stories up. The same color of floor-length, orange drapes fluttered in the small breeze from the slightly open window. A fancy dark, wooden desk, and chair was pushed against the wall on the left side of the door. The floor was made out of dark mahogany oak.

A large, walk-in closet was set to the left of the bed and near the door of the large bathroom. A square rug sat in the front of the bed. Empty bookshelves and picture frames decorated the rest of the walls that were the same color as the throne room and the rest of the inside of the palace. There were no visible lights but the room was well lit with a soft glow.

"I suppose you would like this room a lot better than me," Sleipnir said; orange was _not_ his color.

Fenris didn't say anything. Instead, he pulled off his boots and curled his knees into his chest and rocked back and forth on the bed.

"Are you hungry?" Sleipnir asked, standing near the door and picked at his left hand in awkwardness.

Fenris nodded and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve.

Sleipnir turned around to leave to grab food when Fenris spoke up, "Don't leave me!" Fenris exclaimed with terrified eyes that had yet to blink. "_Please."_

Sleipnir, with his hand on the door handle, sighed, and grabbed the chair from the desk. He spun it around and sat on it and crossed a leg over a knee.

"How am I supposed to get food if I can't leave?" Sleipnir asked, staring expectantly at his youngest brother. Fenris didn't answer. Sleipnir sighed. "Alright, why don't you go take a bath and I will go get food for both of us. You will feel better after a bath and eating, I promise."

Fenris reluctantly agreed although he wanted to protest Sleipnir leaving. Having the older boy around gave him a sense of safety and comfort; and although they had just met, Fenris felt like he could trust Sleipnir.

Fenris slipped off the bed and went into the bathroom. When he had closed the door, Sleipnir got up and went in search of food. He found a couple of maids in the hall and asked them where to find the kitchen. They led him there and Sleipnir grabbed a tray full of delicious smelling food that he and Fenris would share.

When he got back to the bedroom, Fenris was already sitting on the bed, dressed in a loose pair of brown pants and a cream-colored silk shirt. He was barefoot and was hugging his knees to his chest in a position that made him look small and afraid.

Fenris was nowhere near small. Although he was two Asgardian years younger than Sleipnir, the younger boy had twice the muscle mass and was almost as tall as Sleipnir. His skin was also a nice, sun-kissed tan, which really brought out his sharp jawline. His hair was combed and damp. Yet, the way he was sitting made him look like a sad puppy, which he practically was.

"How are you feeling?" Sleipnir asked, setting the tray down on the desk. He handed Fenris a glass of water and a bowl of steaming chicken noodle soup.

"Better," Fenris said and took the items gladfully. He moved to sit cross-legged and balanced the bowl on his lap.

Sleipnir didn't pry any further; he could tell that Fenris wasn't in the mood to talk and it was better for Fenris to focus on eating instead. Sleipnir grabbed a bowl of fruit and yogurt for himself.

The two brothers ate in silence. Fenris didn't eat as much as Sleipnir wanted him too but at least he had something. They left their bowls on the tray on the desk. The sun was setting, casting the room in a pink glow. Fenris lay down on his back and stared up at the top of the canopy bed. Sleipnir slipped his boots off and set them on a small rug near the door next to Fenris's boots. He told Fenris that he was going to take a quick bath, to which Fenris just nodded.

The bathroom was softly lit with the same hidden lighting. A large, round bath was set in the middle of the bathroom and was several inches lower than the floor. Water flowed out of little marble fountains that were set around the edge of the bath.

The water was clear and cool. Sleipnir bathed as quickly as he could because he knew that Fenris might want him back in the room as soon as possible. Dirt and sweat ran off Sleipnir's skin, waking him up and making him feel refreshed.

Drying off and combing his hair, he got dressed in a loose pair of black pants that were sitting folded on a little shelf near the sink. The same silky shirt that Fenris wore was sitting next to the pair of pants and surprisingly fit him. Sleipnir folded and hung up his armour on hooks next to Fenris's and went back into the bedroom.

Fenris was already under the covers but was still awake. He turned his head when Sleipnir walked in.

"Can you stay, please?" Fenris pleaded, clutching the blanket close to his chest with both hands.

Sleipnir sighed and sat down on the bed next to Fenris, resting against the headboard and sitting with his knees bent upwards. "Alright," he said and gave Fenris a reassuring smile.

"We're safe, right?" Fenris asked suddenly.

Sleipnir blinked at the question, thinking that maybe he was joking. One look at Fenris showed that the younger was serious.

"Of course, why do you ask that?" Sleipnir said.

"Because he's scary," Fenris muttered with a small pout.

"Who's scary?"

"The green-haired guy, J-Jor…"

"Jormungandr?" Sleipnir asked and received a nod from Fenris. "He's just confused. He doesn't intentionally try to hurt anyone, it's that he's having a hard time adjusting to being around other people. Give it time and he'll warm up to you."

That seemed to do the trick because Fenris gave a hint of a smile and turned to his side, facing Sleipnir. He squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the blankets over his shoulder and settled into the pillows. He was fast asleep shortly after.

Sleipnir smiled fondly down at his brother; Fenris's long eyelashes made him look cute when he was sleeping.

Pulling back the blankets while being careful not to disturb Fenris, Sleipnir slipped underneath the covers and laid down on the bed. Fenris instinctively moved closer to Sleipnir, pressing into his side, his hair the only thing visible.

Sleipnir wrapped an arm around Fenris's shoulders and slowly fell asleep. Together, in a whole other realm, they both experienced the most peaceful and comfortable sleep they had ever had in their lives.

**I rewrote the ending to _'Til Death Do We Meet_ so that it will be the same as this story, although it's told from Pietro's perspective. The next chapter shall be coming soon. In the meantime, feel free to leave a review! I love all the support and reviews you guys have left me. It's a nice pick-me-up reading what you think about my story. I truly mean it when I say that you all are awesome! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**So many things have happened since I last updated. I got accepted to work at a nearby steakhouse washing dishes. I, hopefully, start this weekend. BTS dropped a new song _(Stay Gold) for_ their Japanese album. Minecraft finally released the Nether update for Pocket Edition! I was going to have this be a longer chapter but I decided that I went too long without an update. I decided to break this into shorter chapter since it was taking me too long to finish this part. Enjoy! :)**

**Chapter Ten: Broken**

The garden was just as detailed and beautiful as the palace itself. Flowers of many colors were lined alongside the stone pathway that wound through the garden. Large trees provided shade over several benches. A large three-tiered fountain flowed into four separate pools in the center of the garden. Birds sang in the trees while butterflies fluttered around. Different vegetables were planted in separate dirt beds and surrounded with finely trimmed hedges. The back of the palace loomed over the garden, the stone path leading up to the back double doors of the palace. Two guards were posted on either side of the door, standing like statues.

Several people were mingling throughout the garden and a gardener was trimming a few low hanging tree branches but Jormungandr ignored them as he walked silently, lost in his thoughts.

As he was walking through, Jormungandr remembered a vague memory of hanging out in a garden that was strikingly similar to this one. Jormungandr sighed and relished in the memory:

_He was curled up on a soft blanket as a small wolf pup bounced through the flower gardens, chasing a butterfly._

_A little boy was there with him, the boy's jet black hair combed neatly as he read a book. He looked remarkably like a male version of Hela, although Hela was nowhere in sight._

_Sleipnir was lying next to the boy, his head resting on the boy's shoulder as he seemingly read along with the boy. His way too many legs were tucked under his body in a position that couldn't possibly seem comfortable, at least to Jormungandr._

_Another boy with blonde hair was lying on his back, tossing a silver ball up into the air and catching it as it came back down._

"_Fenris, come here," the dark-haired boy said to the wolf pup, who had his face pressed against the ground as he searched for something. "Mother will kill us if her flowers are ruined."_

_Fenris obliged and pranced over after letting out a tiny sneeze from inhaling the dirt on his nose. The boy laughed and wiped the dirt off Fenris's nose. Fenris became distracted by a bird landing near them. Fenris let out a yip and chased after the startled bird._

_He didn't catch it and he returned to the blanket with a small pout in his stance. Both boys laughed and the blonde-haired boy sat up and tossed his ball for Fenris to fetch, who let out an excited bark._

Jormungandr couldn't remember anything else. He must have fallen asleep then. Jormungandr chewed on his lip in thought. Hela mustn't have been born yet since she wasn't there. The dark-haired boy must be his father.

Gosh, he must be a lot older now, considering that Jormungandr was thirteen and Sleipnir fourteen. He didn't know how old his father was when Sleipnir was born but he seemed rather young in that memory.

Anger suddenly replaced his strange feeling of longing. His perfect life was ruined. How come he couldn't experience any more moments like that? Why was he forced to miss out on a normal life? He didn't deserve to be treated like a monster, abandoned and left to survive on his own.

He was so distracted that he bumped shoulders with another person. Without turning around, he apologized and continued walking. He hadn't gotten far when someone called out his name.

"Jormungandr?" a familiar voice asked out loud, stopping Jormungandr in his tracks and causing him to turn around.

The sight before made Jormungandr's legs suddenly turn to jelly. "Mia?" Jormungandr gasped.

Mia stood before him with a similar shocked expression. She seemed unhurt yet her eyes were filled with tears.

Shaking off the shock, Jormungandr realized how beautiful Mia looked standing there, her lips parted in surprise and her light pink dress sitting just off her shoulders and flowing down to her ankles. The sunlight shone in her dark brown hair that was done in small hair twists and barely brushing her shoulders. Her golden-brown skin complimented her bright blue eyes, which were wide with shock.

"What are you doing here?" Mia asked, her voice wavering slightly.

"What? Me?" Jormungandr said. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"This is Valhalla," Mia said, thinking that Jormungandr must have been confused about their location. "People go here when they die. You never made it off Sakaar, did you?"

Jormungandr shuffled his feet and kicked a pebble into the grass. "We made it off Sakaar to where we wanted to go. Something happened when Sleipnir dragged all four of us through a portal. It was so sudden and had to be quick, otherwise, we would be dead so we ended up here," Jormungandr said.

"Wait, so you're _not_ dead? And what do you mean by 'four?' " Mia asked, slightly confused.

"No, we're not dead, thanks to my little sister. We think that her presence affected Sleipnir's portal, sending us here instead."

"Sister? You have a sister?"

"Yeah, and a younger brother as well. Apparently, my sister is the queen here so that's probably why we were sent here."

"Your sister's the queen?!" Mia exclaimed. "Can I meet her?"

Jormungandr shook his head. "No, she's going to a rough time right now. She blames herself for what she did and…"

Something suddenly hit him and he gave a small gasp. "What? Me? No. I'm fine but you- you're not…?"

Mia deflated and gave Jormungandr a sad smile. "The guards caught me. The Grandmaster wasn't happy about my betrayal, so… I'm sure you can figure out the rest."

Jormungandr's jaw dropped open and he stared sadly at Mia. "I should've stayed or stopped you from..._sacrificing_ yourself."

"You wouldn't have been able to stop me," Mia said. "You needed to be with your brother. It was my choice, not yours so don't feel guilty over my decision."

"But I dragged you into this mess! First I threatened you and then when you offered your help, I ended up getting you killed anyway! How the Helheim am I not supposed to feel guilty for this?"

Mia picked at her sleeve, not meeting Jormungandr's eyes. "Well, you shouldn't. I'm happy here; I've been waiting to meet Hayden again and I'm finally back with him. Sakaar was just plain awful, Valhalla, even though I'm dead, is a lot better. It's actually peaceful, the people are just lovely, and I've heard that the queen, your sister, is very caring and thoughtful."

"But you didn't deserve this. You did nothing wrong - I did - and yet you're here? It's not fair! The Grandmaster shouldn't have...hold on, I'm going to give him a taste of his own medicine."

Jormungandr turned around, planning on going back to Sakaar just to kill the Grandmaster when Mia suddenly grabbed hold of his wrist, causing him to turn back. When he turned around, Mia was staring at him with newfound energy blazing in her eyes.

"Jormungandr, don't. He's not worth it."When Jormungandr was about to protest, Mia continued, "You're with your family, I'm with my brother, what else more could you possibly want?"

The anger that was welled up inside Jormungandr faded away and he faced Mia fully. As always, she seemed to know what was right and wasn't afraid to correct Jormungandr, especially when he was too blinded by anger to think correctly.

"I don't know how you do it, but always know what to say to me to get me to calm down," Jormungandr said.

"I guess it's a talent," Mia said, stepping closer. They were just inches apart, Mia's hand sliding down Jormungandr's wrist to intertwine her fingers with his. "I don't know why you let me help you."

"You can see right through me. Not many people can," Jormungandr replied with a hint of a smile. Looking down at their joined hands, he realized just how pale he was, especially against Mia's dark skin. She was extremely short, as well, compared to him. Butterflies were building in his stomach, for reasons he didn't fully understand. Maybe it was because Mia, for some reason, actually trusted him. Or maybe it was the way Mia was standing there, all intoxicating with the breeze blowing the hair off her bare shoulders. "The better question is, why _you_ decided to help _me_."

"You're not all bad," Mia said simply. Her heart rate had increased, standing so close to Jormungandr. His eyes were shining and she felt like she was going to become lost in them if she didn't bring up enough courage to look away. He seemed so sad and lost; she hated seeing him so upset.

"I suppose not."

Neither of them realized that they were leaning towards each other until their lips locked. Jormungandr closed his eyes and brought up his free hand to tilt Mia's chin up towards him as he leaned down to make up for their difference in height. Mia stood on the tips of her toes and rested her other hand on Jormungandr's shoulder to keep her balance.

For someone who acted tough most of the time, Mia noted that Jormungandr was surprisingly gentle. Jormungandr pulled back and tilted his head to the side to kiss Mia better. Mia, almost instinctively, did the same, her closed eyelashes brushing her skin.

She barely felt Jormungandr's hand leave her chin and wrap around her waist, pulling her closer and dipped her back as he leaned forward to meet her. Mia brought their clasped hands up near their faces and let Jormungandr hold her. She wrapped her other hand around the back of his neck and attempted to tangle her fingers in his short hair.

Lost in the feeling and taste of each other, their surroundings faded away as they relished being so close and intimate. Time slowed down and it was just the two of them, locked in place as unknown feelings for each other flooded out. All worries slipped away, leaving the comforting warmth of their bodies pressed together.

They would have preferred to stay like that longer, however, they were rudely interrupted by a sudden, upset voice:

"Mia?! What the heck?!"

The noise jolted the couple out of their own little world and they quickly separated to find a man with a temple fade haircut and the start of a small goatee on his chin. He looked exactly like Mia, with the same shade of skin and similar facial features. He must have been Mia's older brother, Hayden. He kept looking between Mia and Jormungandr, clearly upset to find his younger sister making out in a public garden.

"Seriously, Mia? I leave to go use the bathroom and you're…" He gestured towards Jormungandr and glared. "With a stranger, too?! Honestly, I thought that you had more sense than this."

"Please, Hayden, he's not a stranger. We met on Sakaar," Mia said and gave Hayden a pointed look. She realized that she was still holding hands with Jormungandr and let go, much to Jormungandr's disappointment.

"Wait, so he's the snake boy?" Hayden asked. Jormungandr raised an eyebrow in annoyance with the nickname, although he shouldn't blame Mia's brother since Jormungandr typically referred to Sleipnir as 'the horse-boy.' Still, he usually didn't call people his nicknames out loud.

"Problems?" Jormungandr questioned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He was too tired and distracted by the taste of Mia's lipstick to deal with Hayden. The sun was already setting and he didn't want to stand out here any longer than he had to. Sleipnir was right, he needed to rest and the sudden rumble of his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything for nearly a whole day.

"It's not every day that you find your sister making out with someone you've never seen before," Hayden said, ignoring Jormungandr's hostile tone.

"I know, right?" Jormungandr replied. It was a huge surprise to find out that not only did he have a sister but his sister had a boyfriend who also happened to be the prince of Valhalla. Although Jormungandr usually didn't discriminate, he still felt like Hela could do better than having a human as a boyfriend. He couldn't blame Hayden for being upset with him when he, himself, was wary of Pietro being Hela.

When Hayden didn't respond, Jormungandr uncrossed his arms and quickly changed the subject. It was getting uncomfortable standing there with Hayden staring straight into his soul and with Mia's shoulder softly brushing his. With her standing so close to him, it made it hard to focus when all he wanted was to kiss her again, despite what Hayden thought.

"Aren't you from Knowhere?" Jormungandr asked Mia. "I mean, you're not from Asgard and this is Asgard's garden…"

"I got hired to work as a healer in the palace," Mia answered. "It was rather considering that I haven't been here for a whole day yet."

"That's nice," Hayden interrupted and reached out to gently but firmly grab Mia's wrist. "It was nice meeting you but we need to go home. It's getting late."

When Mia opened her mouth to protest, Hayden pulled her away from Jormungandr and led her out of the garden. Jormungandr watched her leave. Maybe he could see her again, considering that she worked in the same place that he was going to live in.

With that thought, Jormungandr walked up to the guards standing near the doors. He asked them for directions to an empty bedroom, and unexpectedly, was led there by one of the guards. He picked a room and immediately collapsed on the soft bed.

Exhaustion from the day's events finally caught up to him and he closed his eyes. He told himself that he was going to rest for a bit before taking a bath but the night took over and he fell into a peaceful sleep with dreams of Mia in his mind.

/\/\/\/\/\

Sleep evaded Hela like a mouse running from a cat, except she was the cat and she couldn't catch the mouse. No matter what she tried - taking a bath, different sleeping positions, getting up at one point to do a bunch of push-ups that only made her arms sore - nothing worked. Nightmares and flashbacks plagued her mind:

_Headaches bothered her to the point where it was unbearable. When the headaches finally stopped, she found herself in an open field with two strange yet familiar men and memories that weren't hers._

_She vaguely remembered the nauseating trip through the Bifrost and killing two men that opposed her once she stepped onto Asgard. She wanted the throne for reasons unknown to her. She had a throne in Valhalla but she wanted more. It was her birthright and she was going to get it._

_She wanted revenge, for what, she didn't know. Revenge on some old man who claimed to be her father; although, instead, she looked like a female version of the strange dark-haired man who summoned the Bifrost._

_She had sent them far away because she knew that if she let them stay near her, they would either stop her or bring up foggy memories. She didn't want to deal with them since their presence only made her more confused than she already was._

_Asgard's army stood in her way to claiming _her _throne. They were nothing more than a pesky roadblock and she didn't need them to conquer the Nine Realms anyway, so she wiped them out. Asgard gave her strength, allowing her to leave the battle without a scratch on her body or her clothing._

_The throne room on Asgard was like the one in Valhalla, except gold and brown. She had modeled the palace in Valhalla after the palace in Asgard, except she changed the gold into silver, which she liked better. The first mural on the ceiling didn't exist in Valhalla, let alone the second one underneath._

_She never did anything like what the second mural depicted yet she thought that it was part of her past. Looking back, it was a small yet important detail that Odin had made to hide his other secrets dealing with Hela and her brothers._

_Her heart almost broke when she found Fenris lying comatose far underneath the palace, surrounded by skeletons of past Asgardian soldiers from when Asgard used to bury the noble instead of sending them off in a burning boat._

_With help from the Eternal Flame, she woke up the soldiers and Fenris. Fenris towered over her, uncharacteristically calm for someone with ADHD. His eyes blazed green, hiding his chocolate brown puppy eyes that only burned with anger. Hela couldn't imagine what Fenris was thinking, only guessing that he was probably confused._

_The rest of her time on Asgard passed in a blur, only coming into focus when Sleipnir showed up and broke her from the side-effects of the curse._

Everything she had done caught up to her and Hela broke down crying again. What type of queen was she? She had murdered her people in cold-blood and for what, revenge and a throne that she never wanted?

It was all wrong and yet, on Asgard, it seemed right. It seemed right to wipe out the entire Asgardian army, leaving the citizens defenseless when she unleashed her army of the undead. She had ordered a woman to be publicly executed if she wasn't informed of the refugees' whereabouts.

Finally giving up on sleep, Hela tossed the covers aside and swung her feet over the edge of her bed. She rested her elbows on her knees and cupped her chin with both hands as she stared at the floor.

She knew that it wasn't her fault but she couldn't help feeling guilty for ruining so many innocent lives. Most of the soldiers that she ended up killing were young and had a long life ahead of them. They could have been married or looking after an elder. They probably had hopes of settling down after fighting many more noble battles. She had stopped all that when she stepped onto Asgard.

She didn't blame the two brothers from the field for trying to stop her on the rainbow bridge. She had hopes that maybe they would show up again and they did, this time with an angry green beast and a rare Valkyrie.

The Valkyries, she thought, were wiped out ages ago, long before she was even born. And yet, she thought that _she_ was the one to do so. It didn't make sense. Whoever wiped out the Valkyries must have been powerful and old but it wasn't her. She wasn't even a thought in her unknown mother's mind, how could she be the one to commit such a horrid attack on the fiercest and most respected warriors in the Nine Realms.

Memories of riding into battle came rushing forward but she had never been in battle before. The most she had ever done was train with the few dead Einherjar at the training grounds near Valhalla's palace. In fact, she hardly left Valhalla, to begin with, especially not alone. Nothing made sense and trying to think made her head hurt.

She couldn't stay in Valhalla like this. She couldn't rule as queen when she knew that she had been the cause of death for a large number of souls in Valhalla. The people would hate her, want her gone. A queen should be gentle and kind, not harsh and murderous.

Standing up, Hela used her memory of the layout of her bedroom to walk to her study, which was connected to her bedroom. She flipped on the lamp on her desk and sat down. She pulled out a notebook and a pencil and started writing ideas on how to fix her mistakes.

There wasn't much that she could do - she couldn't reverse that many deaths - but she could do something, _anything_, to try to make things right.

**The next chapter should be coming soon! Something may be happening with Hela and the boys in the next chapter so stay tuned! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**The next chapter is finally here! I think I said this earlier, but these chapters are too long on their own with just one scene so I decided to break them into separate chapters so that I can get them posted sooner.**

**That being said, there are a few swear words. I usually don't write swearing (I certainly don't use them myself) but I thought that it made things a bit more dramatic.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter Eleven: The Truth Untold**

Breakfast the next day was quiet and bordering on awkward. The dining hall was empty except for the three boys, Pietro, and a couple of guards who had yet to talk to anyone. Hela was nowhere to be seen, probably doing whatever a queen does before breakfast. They were all dressed in their armour from yesterday, except for Pietro, who was wearing a different pair of jeans and a nice, light blue shirt.

There were three long, wooden tables in the dining hall, although only the middle one was being used. A few of the palace chefs had made them breakfast, which now lay on the table, smelling wonderful and reminding them how hungry each of them was.

Fenris ate with a lot more vigor than last night. He had already wolfed down several flat Midgardian breakfast food that Pietro said was a pancake, not to mention the countless links of sausage that he had earlier. Fenris was too busy shoveling more of the delicious pancakes into his mouth to talk, although none of them wanted to talk anyway.

Jormungandr, who had taken a nice bath that morning, was feeling energized and ready to confront their grandfather. He tried to push down the feeling of anticipation by focusing on the savory sausages that he ate too much of already. He hadn't eaten last night and the whole day before, so the feeling of hunger was finally satisfied by the strange but delicious meat. It was a _huge_ improvement from the food on Sakaar; although, earlier, the food on Sakaar seemed like a delicacy compared to whatever he ate on Alfheim.

Sleipnir thoughtfully chewed on his pancakes while trying his hardest not to yell at Fenris for forgetting his table manners. He was afraid that the youngest boy would choke, considering how fast he ate it, but Fenris practically inhaled nine pancakes at an impressive speed and was starting on his tenth before Sleipnir could even finish his second.

After finishing his tenth and final pancake, Fenris sat back in his chair with a content sigh.

"By the Norns, those things are addicting," Fenris said, being the first one to speak after thirty minutes of awkward silence.

Pietro looked up from his plate and raised an eyebrow. "It's just a pancake."

"But it was _good_," Fenris said and covered a burp with his hand, earning a disgusted look from Sleipnir.

Sleipnir had to shove a larger bite than normal into his mouth to stop himself from pointing out Fenris's lack of table manners. He had to remind himself that Fenris was not used to being around people, and aside from last night, he had no idea when the last time that Fenris had ever eaten was. He would let it slide - for now - until Fenris adjusted being around other people.

"Whelp, whenever you're ready, I'm ready," Fenris announced, alluding to their plans of confronting their grandfather.

"Slow down, sunshine," Jormungandr said. "Not everyone is a morning person like you. It takes longer to eat."

Fenris took a sip of water and pouted. "But it's too quiet and it's bothering me."

"If you want to talk, then talk. Noone's stopping you," Jormungandr retorted in annoyance and went back to his half-eaten pancake.

"If you say so," Fenris said, and, boy, that was wrong to suggest such a thing like that to Fenris, because the youngest could _talk_. He went on and on about how fancy the palace was and how he wanted to explore it once they had some free time. He also flat-out told the others what he thought of them, which could have been rude but he was surprisingly nice except for when he said that Jormungandr was scary. The only time he paused was when he took a break to breathe, filling the silence until the others were done eating.

When they were done, they got up to find their grandfather. Pietro offered to show them where he was staying and led the way through the palace. Fenris trotted closely next to Pietro, asking him all sorts of questions that Pietro tried his best to answer without getting distracted.

Jormungandr fell behind to match his pace with Sleipnir's and leaned closer to talk to him without Fenris hearing.

"What'd you do to him?" Jormungandr asked, keeping his eye on Fenris's joyful figure up ahead. "It's like he did a complete one-eighty. He went from a sad, scared puppy to a cheerful child in the span of a night. How does he do that?"

Sleipnir shrugged, also surprised at Fenris's change in mood. "I have no idea. It's strange but I remember him being really energetic when he was a lot younger. Maybe a good night's sleep and some food helped him?"

"Yeah, well, I'd like to know the secret."

"Acceptance?" Sleipnir suggested. "He's either moved on or he's faking it."

"Or he's drunk," Jormungandr said. "There's a saying that only drunk people and children are honest. And he told me I'm scary, _right to my face."_

"Well, you _did_ almost attack Pietro. You aren't exactly the nicest when you're angry."

"Pietro was accusing us of hurting Hela!" Jormungandr protested. He glanced over at Pietro, but the blonde man was too distracted by Fenris to notice. "Besides, finding out that your sister has a boyfriend is always a shock."

"Oh, it's not like you don't have experience in that area," Sleipnir pointed out, catching Jormungandr off guard.

"What do you mean?" Jormungandr asked.

Sleipnir gave Jormungandr an innocent look. "You. Mia. Something is going between you two. It's so obvious that even a blind man could see that you like each other."

Jormungandr gave a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. He was certain that Sleipnir had caught him kissing Mia yesterday but apparently, Sleipnir didn't know. "That's not...we aren't…"

What _were _they? Jormungandr didn't know exactly what he wanted but their kiss yesterday reminded him that he had a chance to be with Mia, even though she was his only experience talking to girls. After being suddenly pushed into several relationships with another brother and a sister, he wanted to take it slow with Mia. He only knew one thing for certain, he didn't want to limit their relationship to a single kiss.

Sleipnir playfully shoved Jormungandr, knocking him out of his daze. "Relax, brother, I'm jesting," Sleipnir said, letting Jormungandr take a sigh of relief.

Sleipnir suddenly paused. "I wonder where she is right now."

Jormungandr looked away and tried to focus on the delicate patterns of the walls. Sleipnir noticed his brother's sudden change in mood and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong? Did something happen with her? Is she alright?" Sleipnir asked.

"No, she's fine. She's with her brother," Jormungandr replied quietly.

"Well, that's good- wait, didn't she say that her brother died?" Sleipnir exclaimed, his eyes widening with the realization.

Jormungandr nodded. "Yes but she's in Valhalla. I found her in the garden palace yesterday and we talked. She says that the Grandmaster was mad at her for helping us and… Well, she said she's happy now, finally at peace. I would leave her alone about it."

Sleipnir's shoulders dropped and he looked down at the floor. "At least she's happy."

"Yeah, but I still can't help but feel guilty."

"It wasn't your fault; she made a choice entirely on her own."

"But I dragged her into this mess," Jormungandr protested.

"But you should stop feeling guilty for her actions. She wouldn't want that," Sleipnir said gently. "Besides, we're probably going to be stuck in Valhalla for a while, so you can talk to her whenever you want."

"Yeah…"

Whatever they had to say next was interrupted by Pietro's voice announcing that they had arrived. Jormungandr straightened up and glared at the closed door. Two guards stood outside, their spears pointing straight up. Pietro talked with one of the guards and the group was allowed inside.

Pietro explained that the room was reserved for souls who were undecided or very close to ending up in either Valhalla or Helheim. The souls waited for their trial by jury, with the queen as the judge. The room was smaller than the rest of the palace rooms, with a circular dining room that was set off from the main lobby area. A hallway opposite the front door led to separate bedrooms. A receptionist desk with a bored Asian woman sitting behind the counter was on the right of the hallway. The lobby was filled with couches, chairs, and tables. Two strange, rectangular devices hung from the walls, flashing moving images on the screens.

When Fenris asked Pietro what the rectangular devices were, Pietro said that they were a Midgardian television that played realtime movies and TV shows. Fenris seemed interested and walked over to stand in front of one of the TV's, completely memorized by the strange technology.

Only three people were sitting in the lobby. Two men were playing some form of a board game, while another old man sat in a recliner chair reading a black and white newspaper.

Pietro walked over to the receptionist with Sleipnir and Jormungandr trailing behind. The woman, who was on her phone, looked up in astonishment when Pietro cleared his throat. The name tag on her gray polo shirt read "Jennie."

"Oh, I am so sorry, your highness," Jennie apologized and gave a small bow from behind the marble countertop.

"It's alright," Pietro said and let Jennie stand up straight before he continued. "We would like to visit someone here."

"Of course," Jennie said and grabbed a pen and notepad. "Who are you planning on visiting, so that I can contact them if they are not out in the lobby?"

While Pietro was giving Jennie the name of who they wanted to visit, Sleipnir glanced around the room and watched as Fenris stared at the TV, completely still with his mouth dropped open. The look of wonderment on Fenris's was kind of cute, making the corners of Sleipnir's lips twitch up in a fond smile.

Jormungandr, however, was staring quietly at Jennie's phone. So much modern, Midgardian technology was starting to overwhelm. Or maybe that was the smell of the flowers on the countertop. Either way, Jormungandr shifted on the balls of his feet, itching to talk to their grandfather. But first, he had to ask Jennie something that was bothering him.

"I don't mean to interrupt," Jormungandr said. Pietro and Jennie stopped talking and looked over at Jormungandr, who continued, "Does everyone have a hand-held television?"

Jennie tilted her head in confusion until Jormungandr gestured towards her phone on the countertop. Jennie's eyes widened and then crinkled up as she smiled.

"Oh, it's a smartphone. Don't you have one? Everyone does," Jennie explained.

Pietro waved his hand absentmindedly to answer for Jormungandr. "He's new. They don't exactly have phones and TVs on Asgard."

Jennie's eyes lit up in realization. "I'm guessing that all three of you are from Asgard then," she said and motioned towards Sleipnir and Fenris as well as Jormungandr. "It's alright. The queen herself is from Asgard, or part Asgardian, I don't know her background. But anyway, I'm surprised that she incorporated a lot of human technology into the palace. A lot of the palace is designed with both human and Asgardian technology and architecture. It's probably because she's been here for a long time."

"Hela designed this place?" Jormungandr asked.

Jennie narrowed her eyes at the informal way of addressing the queen. "_Queen_ Hela," Jennie corrected. "It's how we're _supposed _to address her."

"It's okay," Pietro said, defending Jormungandr. "Hela doesn't care what people call her; it's mostly the council members and guards who enforce it. Besides, they're her brothers."

Jennie's jaw went slack and she straightened up even more. "By the Norns, I am so sorry. I didn't know…"

"Neither did we," Jormungandr pointed out.

Before Jennie could say anything, Pietro cut in. "It's confusing. Which is why we are here. Are we allowed to speak to him privately?"

Trying her best to stay focused, Jennie collected herself and brushed loose hair behind her ear. She smoothed down her shirt and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"Yes, he's in his room right now. He knows that you're coming. Room Eight-Five," Jennie said, repeatedly bowing as the trio left.

Pietro thanked her and led the brothers down the hall. Sleipnir grabbed Fenris by the elbow and pulled him away from the TV, earning a small protest that Fenris mumbled under his breath.

Most of the rooms in the hallway had their doors open, except for four of them. Room Eight-Five was on the far end of the hall, it's door ajar. Fenris, quiet once again, clutched Sleipnir's hand and hid behind his older brother's back.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pietro asked the brothers.

"We didn't come all this way for nothing," Sleipnir said.

Pietro nodded and turned back to the door and knocked. A deep voice answered and told them to come in.

Pietro, who had already talked to the brothers' grandfather before, entered first. Jormungandr followed and then Sleipnir and Fenris.

The room was quite large and acted more like an apartment with a living room in the middle and bedroom on the right of the living room. The bathroom was directly to the right of the front door. The group walked through the small kitchen opposite of the bathroom and into the living room where an old man with shoulder-length white hair and a white beard sat on a plush couch that was pushed against the wall. Two more chairs sat on opposite sides of a small coffee table. Two small windows let a lot of natural light in but the man had a small lamp on.

The man stood up to greet the group. He wore a cream-colored jacket over a red shirt with dark pants and brown slippers. Everything seemed normal, except for his face. He had a leather eye patch over his right eye. He seemed kind yet intimidating.

Fenris peered around Sleipnir at the man. However, once he saw the man's eyepatch, Fenris whimpered and hid his face against Sleipnir's back, which could not have been very comfortable considering that Sleipnir had his swords strapped across his back.

"Sorry for showing up unannounced but these three wanted to talk to you," Pietro said, his voice slightly wavering. Last time he had met with this man, he had yelled at him and he still resented the man, even if he tried to be civil.

"I have nothing better to do," the man sighed. He motioned towards the living room. "You are welcome to sit."

Pietro and the old man sat in the two chairs while the brothers squished onto the couch. Jormungandr, suddenly uneasy, rested his hand on the hilt of his dagger that he had hidden in his belt. Fenris, suddenly shy and slightly afraid of the old man, looked out the window instead of at the man. Sleipnir, who was the closest to the man, gave Fenris a reassuring squeeze on his hand.

"Um," Sleipnir muttered, trying to find something to start the conversation. He had played the scenario out a hundred times the night before but now, the words refurbished to come together. Instead, he picked at his left and gave Pietro a pleading look.

Pietro sighed and turned to the old man. "I suppose we should start with introductions. All of you already know me but this isn't about me. Boys, this is Odin, the former King of Asgard. Odin, these are your grandsons."

Odin scoffed. "What are they here for? To yell at me as you did?" Odin said, addressing Pietro. To the brothers, Odin said, "I assume that you are here for something. What would you like to know?"

"How about the truth," Jormungandr replied, his voice verging on hostile. "The _whole_ truth. Why were we separated from each other, what happened to our dad, and why there has been no mention of our mom?"

Odin sighed and leaned forward in his chair, resting his hands on his knees. "I would use the term "siblings" loosely."

"And why is that?" Jormungandr questioned.

"You are half-siblings. The only factor that ties all four of you together is your father, Loki; although, 'father' is a loose term as well considering that he gave birth to Sleipnir and Hela," Odin explained.

Sleipnir looked over Fenris's at Jormungandr. They never mentioned their names or the fact that they had a sister. They were still related, but hardly. And how could a man give birth to not just one child but _two_?

"What the Helheim happened?" Jormungandr asked, the question burning in all their minds.

"Loki is capable of shapeshifting and is gifted with sedir, or magic," Odin replied. "Unfortunately, he refused to listen to my many suggestions for him to stop practicing sedir. He messed up firstly with Sleipnir when he attempted to lure a horse back to the stables. I had no idea what was going through his mind but he somehow turned into a mare instead of a male horse. I suppose that you can figure out the rest."

"So I'm part Asgardian and part horse?" Sleipnir asked, his voice finally coming back to him. He knew that he was at least part horse, considering that his natural form _was _a _horse, _not Asgardian.

"None of you are Asgardian," Odin stated and continued before anyone could say anything in shock. "Loki is a Jotun from Jotunheim, a land of barbaric ice creatures-"

"According to you!" Pietro interrupted angrily. "I don't understand why you still consider them barbaric when you, yourself, once conquered all the Nine Realms through wars and bloody battles. They are _gentle_ compared to you!"

Odin ignored Pietro and focused on the boys on the couch. "Frost Giants are known to kill without hesitation and have attempted to take over Midgard before I stopped them."

"Who cares if they are 'barbaric' or not? What really matters is that we figure out this whole mess that _you _caused. So what if we're part Jotun?" Jormungandr said and crossed his arms across his chest.

"You most likely inherited Jotuns' natural invulnerability to extreme cold and harsh weather. All of you must have also inherited Loki's sedir, especially since you are sitting like that," Odin said and raised his hand up and down at the boys' Aesir forms.

"And yes, Sleipnir is part horse. Jormungandr's mother is a dragon while Fenris is part bilgesnipe. Hela's father is Death, the former ruler of Valhalla and Helheim. If it wasn't for Loki, none of you would be considered siblings," Odin continued.

Odin's explanation left more questions than it answered. How had it happened, not once or twice, but four times? Surely Loki would have had more sense than that and better control, wouldn't he? Why a dragon and a horse? What was a bilgesnipe? Who was Death? Why was Loki not considered Asgardian if he grew up on Asgard? Did he know that he was a Frost Giant? And why were they separated in the first place?

Jormungandr's curiosity kept tugging at his mind. Odin was avoiding the real question that burned in everyone's mind. He _needed_ to know the truth, the _whole truth_. He leaned forward and glared at Odin.

"It's nice to know what we are but why in all the Nine Realms were we separated?" Jormungandr questioned.

Odin let out an exasperated sigh. "Loki was young, too young when he made a mistake that resulted in Sleipnir being born. I tried to hide Loki's mistake from the public eye the best I could. It worked for the most part, at least until Jormungandr came along. And then Fenris and then Hela. One monstrous child is hard enough to hide without much questioning, let alone four of them. People were beginning to question where you four came from and I couldn't let Loki deal with the humiliation. He was young and single. Letting him grow up like that would only make him more of an outcast than he already was.

"I tried protecting him from not only the citizens of Asgard but the rest of the Nine Realms. What would people think of a prince who was reckless and had four children at a young age without being married? It was better to separate you four from each other, for your sake and Loki's," Odin explained.

Fenris was silent and clung tightly to Sleipnir's arm. Jormungandr's chest heaved as his temper rose. Pietro was staring nervously at the wall over Odin's head, trying to block out the argument.

"_Abandoned_ us. You abandoned us! I was left out to die alone on Alfheim, treated as if I was nothing but a monster!" Jormungandr yelled. "Poor Fenris was locked up in a dark place, _surrounded_ by corpses! Sleipnir was used as a regular horse! I don't know much about Hela but I guarantee that she's not happy about this either. You messed her up so badly that she had no control over her actions in Asgard. She hurt many people because she believed your made-up story of how she was _your _daughter. How the _fuck_ is that supposed to be '_better'?_!"

"The spell that I used to block your memories must have had terrible after-effects when it wears off. I did not intend for that to happen," Odin said, his voice annoyingly calm.

"Well whatever you intended, it failed!" Jormungandr hissed. "None of this would have happened if you hadn't-"

"I only did what was necessary to ensure that Loki could live worry-free," Odin interrupted. "I do not know why he made several mistakes. I thought that he had more sense than that, considering that he was at the top of his class, but more damage would have ensued if I hadn't stepped in."

"Why?" Sleipnir asked, speaking for the first time in a while. "Why blame us? What have we done? We've done _nothing_ and yet you consider us 'mistakes.'"

"You can ask Loki that question," Odin replied. "It was his fault after all."

"His fault?" Jormungandr asked. "From what I've heard, he tried to fight you to keep us together. Doesn't that sound like he cares and takes responsibility for his actions?"

Odin finally snapped. The boys' insistent questioning was getting annoying and he wanted them out of his apartment.

"Loki doesn't care about you, not anymore. He's changed drastically from when he was younger. Even if he remembered who you are, I doubt that he would want you back. You will be nothing but an annoying obstacle in his life," Odin snapped, his voice dangerously low.

"You're lying," Sleipnir said. He looked over at Pietro for assurance but the blonde looked away, suddenly very uncomfortable.

"You wanted the truth and I told you," Odin continued.

"And we're supposed to believe what you're saying?" Sleipnir asked sarcastically. "From what I'm hearing, our dad probably didn't have much say in this matter. What could have possibly happened to change his opinion about us? He cares about us and-"

"Because your father is a murderer!" Odin shouted, his voice booming through the room silencing the group. "He's a wanted criminal in several realms and a has a long list of crimes but the most important one is murder. He's killed thousands of people-"

Jormungandr suddenly stood up, his fists clenched at his sides and shaking from anger. Fenris whimpered and started crying. Sleipnir wrapped one arm around Fenris's shoulder while grabbing hold of Jormungandr's wrist with the other.

"It's not true," Jormungandr whispered hoarsely. "Say it's not true."

"Believe me, the truth can be worse than a lie," Odin said.

"You bastard!" Jormungandr shouted and punched Odin so hard across the jaw that the old man fell off his chair.

Pietro was up on his feet and pulled Jormungandr away from Odin before the green-haired boy could continue his assault. Jormungandr struggled against Pietro's grip but Sleipnir joined and they led him out of the apartment, leaving Odin lying on the floor, grumbling more in annoyance than pain. Fenris followed closely behind as the group stormed down the hall and out the lobby doors. Several eyes from Jennie and the others in the lobby watched the group leave in confusion, no doubt having heard the argument.

Only when they were finally out of the small section of the palace did Pietro and Sleipnir let go of Jormungandr. Jormungandr shrugged them off and huffed, suddenly rounding on Pietro. Fenris ducked behind Sleipnir again, his position behind his oldest brother giving him a feeling of safety.

"You knew," Jormungandr stated angrily, his voice wavering from anger. "You know what our dad did, don't you?"

Pietro sighed and nodded, avoiding Jormungandr's glare. "I do."

When Jormungandr growled and tensed up, Pietro added, "I tried warning you guys. I didn't know about what happened when he was younger but I know about what Loki did."

"What did he do?" Sleipnir asked, his eyes shimmering with tears.

Pietro shook his head but Sleipnir insisted. "If we've come this far, we should know the whole truth. Everything. We _want_ to know."

"It was 2012," Pietro started speaking while staring sadly at the ground. "Loki suddenly showed up on Earth and let an army of aliens attack a large city, trying to take over the planet and rule it as its king. Many people died that day.

"I wasn't there; I don't know everything or his side of the story but who knows what other things he's done before that. All I know is that you shouldn't put your complete trust in him. He's not the man you thought you knew."

The silence was overwhelming, almost suffocating as the truth slowly sank in. Their father, the one they were looking for all this time, didn't care, probably never cared. Although they were reunited, they suddenly felt more alone than ever.

Tears slid down Sleipnir's thin cheeks. Fenris sobbed from behind him. Jormungandr growled and punched a wall, cursing as it almost broke his knuckles. Pietro stood there, looking completely and utterly defeated. The shock and pain from the dispirited family of broken half-siblings radiated off like heat from a fire; a fire that had burned away all hope of being normal.

They had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. It seemed like the whole universe was against them. For the second time in their lives, they felt abandoned and somehow it hurt more than the first time. Learning the truth about their upbringing and their criminal of a father cut deeper than a knife.

The events of the past days overwhelmed Sleipnir and he slid against the wall and rested his head on his knees. He gave up trying to act strong, for his brothers' sakes.

Fenris, the youngest of the boys, looked like he was about to break down as well. His eyes were shining with tears, his innocent face dropping in defeat. He was too young and innocent for this. All Sleipnir wanted to do was wrap Fenris in his arms and protect him from the harsh reality, but Sleipnir could barely face the truth himself.

Just when things couldn't get any worse, a buzzing sound filled the air, and Hela's voice came over hidden speakers shortly after.

"Attention people of Valhalla, this is your queen," Hela announced, her voice sounding distressed. There will be a meeting this afternoon in the palace courtyard. It will be televised but news officials and those in my council are required to attend. I apologize for such short notice but I need to address certain issues that affect everyone here. Thank you."

The speakers clicked off, once again plunging the hallway into silence. The sudden announcement seemed strangely disturbing. There was some fear in her voice when she spoke, which was cause for concern. Hela clearly wasn't happy and was probably going to do something unconventional.

But what in the Nine Realms _was_ she planning?

**Another cliffhanger! (Kind of) I thought that having another chapter in between would draw out the suspense and make it more dramatic. I'm not the best at writing dramatic scenes but I tried. I seriously had this whole scene played out in my head a few weeks ago but I forgot what I was going to have the characters say, so I had to basically start from scratch. I should start carrying something around to write down my ideas.**

**I hope I explained the kids' backstory well. Sleipnir's whole origin has its own story (_An Eight-Legged What?!). _I plan on doing the other kids' origin stories soon after I'm done with this one, so that will clear up missing details. I didn't want to spoil them too much but I added some hints of what might happen.**

**Feel free to leave a review or any type of feedback. I appreciate your support; it makes me feel better as a writer. I'm still young and fairly inexperienced but I'm learning as I go along. Hearing from you is a great way to motivate me and makes me happy to know that someone noticed me. Stay healthy and stay awesome! :) 3**


	12. Chapter 12

**Things just seem to be getting sadder. Why do I do this? I don't know...**

**Chapter Twelve: Not Strong Enough**

The announcement shot through Valhalla like a deadly missile. People had speculations about what the queen wanted to address but no one knew the truth. Even Hela's officials and leading members in the palace were confused if not unsettled. Usually, the queen made announcements days in advance and the sudden urgency of her short message only added to the growing list of concerns. The only person who knew what was going on was Hela and she was nowhere to be found.

Once they heard the message, all thoughts of their confrontation with Odin vanished and Pietro and the boys rushed to the throne room in hopes of finding Hela there.

She wasn't.

Instead, an average-sized man in a fancy, dark, Victorian three-piece suit stood at the base of the throne, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. The tailcoats reached down to his calves. His back was turned towards the group and he seemed to be staring at the throne in thought. A black top hat covered his brown hair.

"Vincent," Pietro called out, shaking the strange man from his thoughts.

The man, Vincent, turned and unclasped his hands. A faint smile of recognition crossed his bearded face and gave a small bow.

"Your Highness," Vincent said and stood up, the smile gone and replaced by a stoic expression. His eyes scrutinized the brothers but he said nothing."I don't suppose that you have seen the queen?"

"I was just going to ask you the same thing," Pietro replied. "Do you know what Hela's planning?"

Vincent sighed and clasped his back behind him. "I am afraid that it is hard to discuss with her what her plans are when she is yet to be found. She is usually not like this and it worries me."

"Same," Pietro said. He jumped a little when he realized that the brothers hadn't met Vincent before and were not introduced.

"Oh, you haven't met yet," Pietro said to the boys. "Vincent, these are Hela's older brothers: Sleipnir, Jormungandr, and Fenris."

Pietro motioned in Vincent's direction. "This is Vincent, the lead reaper of Valhalla and Hela's advisor. Reapers search and collect souls of the dead to bring them to Valhalla. If you need anything, he's the right guy to ask."

Vincent bowed again. "I have heard of you but I have been busy managing all the souls coming in to meet you. Welcome to Valhalla."

Sleipnir gave a small nod of acknowledgment. "Thank you. I know that it may be confusing and sudden with our appearance but we hope that our first impressions were not bad."

"They were not. I can only claim to understand what you three and Hela have been going through," Vincent replied. "Family matters are always difficult to work through and I assume that yours is not an exception."

"It's been hard but we're managing," Sleipnir said.

"I imagine so."

The conversation dwindled and the group stood in silence. Fenris slid his hand into Sleipnir's and stared down at the floor. Jormungandr crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head, deciding that he trusted Vincent.

"What are we supposed to do?" Jormungandr asked. He wanted to leave to figure things out alone in his bedroom or find Mia so that he could talk to her. She always calmed him down; and right now, he needed to untangle the stressful knot in his stomach.

"I am afraid that there is not much we can do until this afternoon," Vincent answered, his voice somber. "Hela, as much as she enjoys being around people, is perfectly capable of disappearing when she wants to be alone. I do not know what happened on Asgard but the fact that she has yet to talk to me is quite distressing."

"So we're supposed to wait and do nothing. She needs us," Jormungandr protested.

"If she wanted help, she would have made it known," Vincent stated calmly. "I could check her usual hiding spots but that might upset her and make things worse. I understand that there is reason for concern but we need to understand what she is feeling right now. Waiting it out is our best option."

With that, Vincent turned to leave. He stopped and faced the group again, his face blank.

"I suggest that all of you go wash up before this afternoon. I assume that she would want you there," Vincent said and strode out of the throne.

The group reluctantly heeded Vincent's suggestion and dispersed to clean up and grab something to eat.

The meeting was only a few hours away; however, it felt like an eternity and could not come soon enough.

/\/\/\/\/\

There was a nice little spot near a waterfall behind the palace. A small cave had been carved out from years of water erosion pouring down the cliff in the mountain. Leaves from a tree that somehow managed to grow straight out of the rocks covered the entrance, hiding it from view. The waterfall and the river could be seen through the leaves and the position of the cave gave a nice view of the forest and the palace. The cave wasn't big enough for a grown person to fit in but Hela was flexible and smaller than most people.

Noone except Hela and Vincent knew about the little hidey-hole. Hela had first discovered it when she was seven and had somehow managed to escape the watchful eyes of the many guards. The forest and waterfall was a nice ten-minute walk from the palace and she only found the cave when she wanted to get a closer look at the waterfall.

She had been missing for a few hours before Vincent managed to find her. As per usual, he wasn't happy that she had disappeared and scolded her. She only went back whenever she wanted an escape from the stressful life of a young queen and Vincent usually left her alone, knowing that she sometimes just needed to be alone.

She had other hiding spots but this one was her favorite. It was a tighter fit from when she was younger but it still gave her a feeling of comfort and safety. The rush of the waterfall drowned out her stressful thoughts and helped her relax.

The feeling of comfort still hadn't faded and she doubted that it would. Now, the waterfall cave swallowed the feeling of panic.

She knew that it was childish, running away from her problems. She knew that the sudden announcement that she had planned when she was sleep deprived last night and could barely function. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it still did. Even so, the guilt of suddenly dropping such a huge bomb like that on her people clawed at her.

_Her people._ They didn't know what she had done. They were going to and it wasn't going to be pretty. If she was anything, she prided herself on being a truthful queen and the people were going to hear the truth. The truth of her family, why she had disappeared for nearly a week, what she had done…

They were going to know that she had murdered hundreds of innocent Asgardians, and what if it happened again? They were going to know that she couldn't bear to rule as their queen any longer. She had been thrust into her position from birth, from a horrible father who had taken advantage of a young girl to bear an heir to his throne. She was the product of a horrible situation and it only made sense that she had messed up, like the monster she was.

Her father, Death, had died trying to take her from her mother - her mother that she never knew and probably died protecting her. Vincent was the closest she had to a family; he had raised Hela by himself, acting like the father she needed.

Having her brothers show up awakened something inside her. It was nice to know that she wasn't alone in her struggles; she wasn't the only one abandoned by their parents. But it was too much all at once and she was going to have a full-blown panic attack if she hadn't left.

Sitting with her knees to her chest in the only position that allowed her to fit in the cave, Hela proof-read the speech that she had written in a notebook. The gray lead of the pencil filled up several pages.

Gray. What a gloomy color.

She liked dark colors and usually only wore shades of black, gray, and green. However, the dark colors reminded her of just how depressing her life was. She had been happy. She had a caring boyfriend who was the perfect combination of a great personality and handsomeness, the people loved her, the economy was up, Valhalla was flourishing. She had just finished a huge project of adding several planets to Valhalla in her quest to design Valhalla exactly like the people's homelands.

All of that changed when _she_ changed. She went from being a joyful, extroverted, confident queen, whom many would call cute and funny, to an insecure, depressed, and anxiety-ridden little girl. She used to be a different type of queen, one who wasn't afraid to make jokes and involve herself in the people's lives as much as possible, but many people loved her personality. Now, she could barely talk to someone without crying.

She wanted to curl up in her mother's arms and cry while her mother comforted her and played with her hair, just how mothers were supposed to do when their kids were upset. Vincent, bless his soul, had never been one for expressing his emotions and was rather strict. He tried his best, she had to give him that, but it wasn't like how she imagined having parents would be like.

Sighing and resting the notebook on her knees, Hela looked out over the forest and at the silver palace gleaming in the distance. Having the palace silver instead of gold had seemed like a good idea at the time but now it seemed cold and mocking. The little joys in her life had been sucked out and completely squashed.

Maybe, once all of this was over, she would buy a nice cabin in the woods and retreat from society. Pietro could come if he wanted to or not; she would completely understand if he wanted to break up with her after everything she had done. She was surprised that he hadn't left her yet.

The sun had risen to the middle of the blue sky. It was almost noon. She should start heading back to the palace to clean up and change. Although many people had seen her in just yoga pants and a loose T-shirt, what she was about to announce needed something more dressy and professional.

Unfolding her knees, Hela slipped her notebook and pencil into the satchel she had brought and started to climb down the side of the cliff. She didn't want to show up late; what kind of impression would that leave?

A small, hysterical laugh escaped Hela's lips. Did it really matter what the people thought of her anymore? She was a murderer, who cares if she shows up late or never makes an appearance at the meeting?

After today, she doubted that anyone would care about her. Not when they were about to hear the truth.

Whether she was ready or not, there was no turning back now.

/\/\/\/\/\

The courtyard was packed. TV broadcasters had their cameras set up in the front row in front of a small podium. The podium was set in the front and middle of a platform that allowed several people to stand comfortably with plenty of space. Several microphones were hooked up to the podium. Speakers were hidden in the many columns that surrounded the courtyard and connected across the courtyard in separate arches. Flowers and intricate designs crawled up and down the columns and arches, leaving open sky in between and filling the air with the aroma of colorful flowers. Another large arch rose from behind the podium and platform, connecting it to the side of the palace.

Thousands of people were standing in anticipation. Conversations buzzed in the still air. There was hardly any room to move around and the guards were trying their best to fit as many people into the large courtyard as possible.

Hela's officials were lined up along the side of the columns, sitting in wooden chairs and frowning at each other and the people. Vincent, still dressed in his tuxedo, stood on the left of the podium, his hands clasped behind his back. Pietro stood on the right side of the podium, dressed in a light gray dress suit.

Sleipnir, Jormungandr, and Fenris stood off on the right Pietro, all dressed in their armour. Fenris wouldn't stop shifting from foot to foot in worry. Jormungandr kept staring at the back of Vincent's head, trying to hold himself together. Sleipnir, the physically calmest one out the three, studied the details of the fancy courtyard, quietly admiring the architecture.

A sudden hush fell over the crowd as Hela entered from the right, flanked by two guards. Hela had changed into black dress pants and a green dress top but her expression of sadness hadn't changed. Her hair was pinned up in a braided bun in an attempt to look better. As she walked up to the podium, the people quietly bowed in respect and stood back up when she reached the podium.

The guards took up positions behind Hela, their spears gleaming in the sunlight. Pietro gave Hela a subtle look of question but she ignored it. Instead, she sighed and pulled folded notebook paper from her back pants pocket and smoothed it out on the podium.

Taking a deep breath, Hela exhaled, and looked out into the crowd. Eager faces stared back up at her, waiting patiently for her to start.

Hela chewed on her bottom lip and leaned closer to the microphones. Out of all the speeches she had given, this one was - no doubt - the hardest. She placed her hands on either side of the podium to keep her balance, starting to feel rather dizzy.

"First of all," Hela spoke, her voice wavering. Her eyes burned as tears welled up. She told herself that she wasn't going to cry - not yet - and fought against them.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Hela continued. "I know that I haven't been present lately and I wanted to address certain issues that some of you may already know…"

Hela sniffed and looked down at her notes. She could feel everyone's eyes on her but Pietro's hurt the most. She tried to put his look of pity out of her mind and focused. She would talk with him later when she finished this.

She knew she was stalling and quite frankly, she didn't care. She needed the extra time to gather herself.

Her mouth suddenly felt really dry and she leaned over to ask Vincent for a glass of water, which he relayed to one of the guards.

When the glass was placed on the podium, Hela took a sip and set it back down, feeling slightly better.

_It's now or never. You can't keep them waiting forever._

Hela dug her nails into the wooden podium and forced herself to continue.

"I would like to thank you for being patient with me. Things have been rather difficult and I admit that I'm having a hard time," Hela admitted.

Pietro, sensing Hela's stress, placed his hand on the small of her back in an attempt to comfort her. Usually, it did but this time Hela flinched and he drew his hand back.

"Maybe I should stick to my notes…" Hela muttered, earning a weak laugh from the crowd. This was no time for jokes, not like how she usually opened her speeches with. She needed to be completely real and open if she was going to get her thoughts across.

"As your queen, it is my duty, to be honest with you. So I'm going to be completely honest and tell the whole truth of what happened in the past couple of weeks. It is a difficult topic to discuss and I understand if you have questions. I hope that I will answer those questions and give you a solution to the problem," Hela said.

Holding up her notebook paper in one hand, Hela took a deep breath and pushed herself through the sudden knot in her stomach.

"For months, I was plagued by headaches until they gradually got worse. The worst one finally broke me and I disappeared in an unexpected manner that I did not have control over. I woke up on Midgard, different. False memories that I never had taken over my mind and I made my way to Asgard.

"I was so angry and just wanted revenge. I wanted the throne of Asgard and I would stop at nothing to get it. Even if that included taking out... taking out the entirety of Asgard's army…"

Hela wiped her eyes with a tissue and choked back a sob. The crowd stared back at her with wide eyes.

"I-I took the throne of Asgard but I didn't want to stop there. I wanted to continue my conquest to the rest of the Nine Realms and beyond, completely forgetting my past in Valhalla. I believed that I was the daughter of Odin, Asgard's former king of Asgard, The All-Father. I believed that what I was doing was right. I wouldn't have stopped if my unknown brothers hadn't shown up to break from the curse that was placed on all four of us."

A gasp rippled through the crowd at Hela's mention of her brothers. Hela sadly smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I am the youngest of four. My older brothers saved me from the destruction of Asgard. I didn't know they existed until then. Odin is _not _my real father, Death is. I do not know who my mother is and probably never will. I believe that my brothers and I were cursed and separated because of a deep hatred from Odin at our births. I would like to thank my brothers for bringing me back into reality.

"I have been told plenty of times that what I did on Asgard was not my fault but I cannot help to feel guilty. It was by _my_ hand that I individually _murdered_ every last Asgardian soldier. Thousands died by _my _hand. Asgard was destroyed in a last attempt to stop me. Surtur was unleashed _because_ I wasn't going to stop. Innocent people died _because of me._"

Hela's throat locked up. She tried to smile through the overwhelming pain inside her before her voice cracked and she broke down crying.

"Too many people here are dead because of me. I cannot imagine how they feel having me as their queen. I-I am a murderer and I cannot rule as queen anymore.

"I-I h-have come up with a solution to who will take over the throne of Valhalla. Each official from every town is in charge of making sure that their town votes and are responsible for keeping everything honest. A vote will be held and counted this weekend. _Everyone_ ages fifteen and above _must_ submit a vote."

Hela took a deep breath before continuing. "If even ten percent of the votes are against me, I will-I will step down as queen. Thank you."

**I'd like to apologize for having so many characters but Vincent was an important side character in some of my stories and I plan on writing another story about Hela's childhood growing up Valhalla sometime, where he will have more of a back story. He will also show up in Hela's origin story that I will eventually get around to writing (after Jormungandr's and Fenris's origin stories, of course). Geez, I have so many ideas and I just want to start them all. Taking them one at a time is a lot better option, although you and I have to be patient for them. Anyways, feel free to leave a review. What do you think is going to happen? Will things turn out alright? Will things become worse or get better? Who knows? Also, go listen to BTS's new album: _Map of the Soul 7, The Journey. _It just released today and all the songs are awesome!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I know that it's been a while. This chapter was difficult to write so it took me longer to do so. I was also not feeling good for a whole week. But anyway, this chapter is done and finally up! :) On a side note, my older brother's birthday is tomorrow and my younger brother's birthday is this Sunday. I will be eating a lot of junk food in the next few days. (My dad, cousin, and a friend also have birthdays in August. Geez.) Cross country season is coming up. I have been running with a few other teammates but I am not ready to deal with an onslaught of middle-schoolers. My older brother is moving out in August to college. (It's only 40 minutes away so it's not that far). My senior year is coming up as well. My school is allowing us to go back to school and thank goodness because I miss my friends. BTS is also dropping a new song in August! Just when I start learning Korean, they announce that the song is going to be completely in English. Oh well, it's still going to be awesome. Anyhoo, I'm rambling. Enjoy this chapter! :)**

**Chapter Thirteen: Messed Up But Together**

The crowd was deadly quiet as Hela stepped away from the podium and walked off the platform before the guards could catch up to her. Sleipnir swayed a bit from Hela's announcement. Pietro grabbed hold of the podium to hold himself up, suddenly feeling light-headed and nauseous. Fenris and Jormungandr were both confused and quietly stood in shock. Vincent immediately went to find Hela, practically jumping off the platform and running into the palace.

Hela couldn't...she couldn't..._no._ This couldn't have been happening. The people _loved _her. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't…

Nobody moved or said anything for several minutes. Pietro attempted to speak to the crowd, feeling like it was _his_ duty as Prince of Valhalla to say something in the queen's absence, but his mouth was dry and he couldn't form any words. His mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour, trying to figure out the reason why Hela would say such a thing.

Pietro grimaced and jerked his head to the side before stepping away from the podium and walking off. His movements caught the eye of Sleipnir, and he followed the human man with the other two boys trailing closely behind.

"What happened?" Fenris asked once they were inside and away from the crowd. "What did she do?"

Pietro rounded on Fenris, almost shouting at him before he saw the boy's startled expression. Pietro's face softened although his eyes still burned brightly in a mix of anger and confusion. "Hela gave up the throne! I don't know why she believes that it was her fault for what happened on Asgard. I don't know why she thought that people would hate her for what she's done. Hela is the best queen that Valhalla has _ever_ seen and _desperately needed_ after the last ruler. She can't be serious about this!"

"Is there anything we do?" Sleipnir asked. Although he lived on Asgard and was the king's steed, he still had limited knowledge of how a monarchy style government worked. Even so, he doubted that queens - or kings - would just randomly give up their throne, let alone put it up to a _vote_. This had to be unprecedented and Sleipnir could understand why Vincent and Pietro were frustrated.

Pietro shook his head. "I don't hold enough power to undo her announcements or orders. And even if I did, she would probably hate me for it and I don't want to cause her any more pain. We can only wait until the vote comes in. I really don't see the need for a _vote_. The people _love _her, I-"

Pietro's sentence broke off and he rubbed a hand down his face and let out a tired groan. He turned away from the group, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"I'm sorry," Pietro said over his shoulder. "I need some alone time to figure this out."

The brothers watched Pietro walk away in silence, his footsteps slowly fading away as he turned a corner around a column. Fenris slipped his hand into Sleipnir's, breaking the eldest from his thoughts.

"What now?" Fenris asked, his wide brown eyes stared up at Sleipnir, patiently waiting for an answer.

"Pietro said that we can't do anything right now. We have to wait this out," Sleipnir answered.

"Well, I'm going to find Mia," Jormungandr announced, mostly to Sleipnir since Fenris seemed to be daydreaming again. "I need someone else to talk to and I'm sure that you really don't want me around, scaring Fenris. Take care our brother."

"Take care of yourself as well," Sleipnir called after Jormungandr. Once they were alone, Sleipnir turned towards Fenris.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Sleipnir asked.

"I want to go outside," Fenris replied. "It's too dark in here."

The palace was, by no means, dark. It was well lit by a combination of hidden lighting and globes of soft white light placed in metal bowls attached to the column. Even so, Fenris had spent most of his life alone in the dark and the walls must have seemed too familiar to where Fenris was kept. Of course, the boy was afraid of the dark and would rather be outside.

"Alright," Sleipnir said, deciding not to question Fenris's statement about the palace being 'too dark.' "I've always wanted to see the garden. I heard it's quite beautiful."

Fenris eagerly nodded and practically pulled Sleipnir's off in his earnest to get outside.

The fresh air and bright blue sky gave them a surge of energy. Fenris lifted his face to the sky and closed his eyes, sighing contently. The smell of flowers drifted in the slight breeze.

Fenris let go of Sleipnir's hand and quietly chased a butterfly that was fluttering around. Sleipnir let a smile cross his lips at Fenris's adorable behavior but it faded quickly. The weight of their talk with Odin, Hela's sudden announcement, and a sharp pain from his wound pressed down on Sleipnir, forcing him to sit down on a bench.

Tears welled up in Sleipnir's eyes as he watched Fenris chase the butterfly. It reminded him of the time they were in the palace garden, not in Valhalla but Asgard, with his father and brothers. They were so happy and carefree then. Now, everything seemed so horrible. Things just kept getting worse and worse, so much so that Sleipnir doubted that it would ever stop.

Sleipnir forced back his tears and straightened up. He wasn't going to cry here, not in front of Fenris. Fenris, who was starting to act like his old self, didn't need to see his older brother break down. Let him have a childhood that he never had. Let him be free of responsibility and worry. When Fenris was talking non-stop at breakfast, Sleipnir had hopes that everything would be alright and that they could finally be happy.

But hoping such things seemed pathetic and stupid now.

Why couldn't they be a family again, with Loki? What had Loki even done to warrant such hatred from Odin? Why couldn't Hela see that it wasn't her fault for the incident on Asgard? Why would anyone even push such a terrible fate on someone so young and innocent? Why couldn't they get a break from having everything crumbling around them?

And why couldn't they be happy?

Was it too much to ask?

/\/\/\/\/\

The apartment-style room that Mia shared with her brother Hayden was quite spacious, especially since it was inside the palace and near the healing wing. It was significantly fancier than the place that Odin was staying at. There were two bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. There was a shared kitchen, balcony, living room, and a small study.

The biggest difference, Jormungandr noticed, was the view and furnishings. For how short she had been there, Mia had already decorated the living room. Flowers and other potted plants added color to the living room and kitchen. Smaller knick-knacks were set on several shelves. A decent-sized herb garden grew on the balcony, which overlooked the front entrance to the palace. The rainbow bridge could be seen in the distance, past the city. The blue water shone in the sun, giving off a calming feeling.

Mia and Jormungandr were sitting on two chairs in the middle of the herb garden. Mia had her knees folded to her chest and her feet resting on the seat of the chair. Considering her small size, she fit perfectly on the chair while Jormungandr sat with his feet up on the edge of the balcony and his arms crossed.

A small breeze ruffled their hair and brought up the pleasant smell of the herbs. Jormungandr brushed his hair out his eyes and sighed. They had been sitting there for nearly half an hour in silence. Mia understood that she needed to give Jormungandr time to talk after seeing the upset look on his face when he first found her that afternoon.

The silence wasn't entirely unpleasant. It was nice sitting there, enjoying each other's company with a great view. It was strangely calm yet a sense of dread hung over the city, especially since Hela had disappeared after dropping such a huge announcement. Mia said that she heard the news from the healing wing and was immediately sent home. It seemed like all of Valhalla was shutting down for the week, as they all waited to vote.

An eagle soared by, sending up a small breeze that ruffled the leaves of the herbs. Mia brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear and glanced at Jormungandr.

"Nice weather, isn't it?" Mia asked, trying to ease Jormungandr into talking.

"I guess," Jormungandr said. "It must be hard working inside when there's constantly weather like this."

"Yes but it's not entirely bad. There's a lot less work here than on Sakaar. I've mostly been organizing files instead of helping patients. People are more careful here," Mia said.

"Probably because everyone's dead."

Mia pursed her lips at that statement. "I suppose but we can still get hurt. People tend to do stupid things because they think they're invincible. Even so, it's a lot safer here, less crime, less stupidity."

"Anywhere's better than Sakaar. The swamp's a lot better than Sakaar," Jormungandr pointed out.

"Well, on Knowhere, you couldn't walk ten feet without getting pickpocketed. Hayden never let me go anywhere on my own. The crime rate was extremely high. Drunk people wandered the streets, kids were taken or sold for money all the time, someone died every week. It was almost a relief to go to Sakaar; at least there are some rules. I was protected against other people since I worked for the Grandmaster," Mia explained.

"It's probably ten times better here, with Hela as the queen," Jormungandr said, watching the eagle circle in the blue sky.

Mia nodded. "She's really nice. Which is why I don't understand why she would give up her throne like that. I mean, kings or queens don't do that. They usually want to keep their throne. Having the vote shows that she is a genuine person and a good queen. Why would she do that?"

"She thinks that all those deaths on Asgard were her fault, which is not true at all. She's got it in her head that she's responsible for making things right when she didn't do anything wrong at all."

Mia blinked in confusion. "But people _died_. Someone did something wrong."

"That someone wasn't Hela," Jormungandr replied. He pulled his feet down and sat up, fully facing Mia for the first time in nearly an hour. "I talked to my grandpa this morning…"

"And what did he say?" Mia asked when Jormungandr's sentence cut off.

"It's a really long story," Jormungandr said.

"I've got time."

Jormungandr leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. He stared up at Mia through his hair, his golden eyes shining like two suns. "My grandpa separated my siblings almost after Hela was born. He put a spell on us to make us forget who we were. The spell wore off when he died. The side effects of the spell messed something up in Hela's head, making her believe that she was our grandpa's daughter and the rightful heir to the throne of Asgard. She didn't know what she was doing. It wasn't her fault - it was my grandpa's fault," Jormungandr explained.

"Didn't your parents do anything about it?" Mia asked, her blue eyes widening.

"That's the problem. My dad had us at a young age so Odin thought he was 'protecting' my dad by separating us. And we're barely related. Sleipnir, the others, and I have different parents. The only thing that ties us together is our dad, except apparently he is Sleipnir's and Hela's mom. It's so damn confusing and I don't know what to do!"

Mia chewed on the inside of her cheek in thought. She didn't want to accidentally say something that would upset Jormungandr further.

"Can't you talk to your dad?" Mia finally asked after much hesitation.

Apparently, it was the wrong thing to say because Jormungandr tensed and looked away from Mia.

"I don't think I want to," Jormungandr muttered.

What she said next had to be carefully thought through before spoken. Jormungandr looked extremely unhappy and the mention of his dad only made it worse.

"May I ask why?" Mia asked, being careful not to seem like she was prying. She wanted Jormungandr to talk on his own terms. The topic was touchy and she didn't want Jormungandr getting upset and losing control, as he had done before.

Jormungandr gritted his teeth and looked about ready to snap when he took a deep breath and leaned against the back of the chair. "I don't know what he did but Odin considers him a criminal. Plus, he might not like us anymore. He sure hasn't tried to find us so why would he care. Criminals usually don't care about their kids…"

Mia unfolded her legs and leaned forward. She gently rested a hand on Jormungandr's wrist, causing him to look at her.

"From what I'm hearing, this Odin guy is not entirely truthful. I would take his word with a grain of salt. If he separated you and your siblings and lied about it, I'm that lying about your dad wouldn't affect him very much."

"Pietro agreed with Odin."

Mia blinked and brought her head back. "Hela's boyfriend?"

"Pietro told us what my dad did. My dad a-attacked a Midgardian city. Thousands of people died. And from what Pietro said, I'm sure that my dad knew _exactly_ what he was doing."

It was suddenly very quiet. Mia's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in shock. It looked like she had frozen in place.

"That-that can't be true…" Mia muttered.

Jormungandr shook his head. "I asked Vincent, Hela's advisor. He said it was true. I also asked around before I came here. A lot of people know about it. As if my life couldn't get worse, it turns out the rumor of my dad causing mass genocide is true. He's a _murderer_; no wonder he doesn't care about me or the others; he's too busy trying to take over other planets…"

There was nothing that Mia could say or do to make Jormungandr feel better. The most she could do was bring her chair in front of Jormungandr and hug him. He deflated and buried his face in her shoulder while wrapping his arms around her back. He clung onto her, her dress bunching up in his fist. His knuckles turned white from holding on so tightly, trying to hold onto something solid, something _real_.

"Jormungandr, I am so sorry," Mia muttered. She couldn't imagine how Jormungandr was feeling. Being abandoned by one's parents was hard enough alone; having that parent be a well known criminal for committing such a horrible crime crushed all hope being a normal, happy family in the chances that they met.

Jormungandr's eyes welled up with tears. He gave up on trying to hold them back and let them soak into Mia's dress. Mia held onto Jormungandr, trying her best to comfort him without speaking.

All of this felt like a fever dream, one that he couldn't wake up from, a nightmare come true. His father was an infamous genocidal psychopath, his grandfather hated them, his sister was slowly losing her sanity and faith in herself - when will it end?

Why couldn't they get a break? Why? Why them? Just when he thought that he had already hit rock bottom, another chasm opened up underneath and swallowed any hope of climbing out that pit. The hole just kept getting deeper and deeper, the light fading away, replaced with shadows.

It was like their whole family was cursed - doomed to be miserable forever.

/\/\/\/\/\

The weekend couldn't come soon enough. The rest of the week, Hela had not shown up. She had seemingly locked herself in her room, not accepting visitors. Not even Vincent nor Pietro could talk to her. Two guards constantly stood at the end of the hallway to Hela's room who stopped anyone from seeing Hela. Other than that, no one knew what she was doing and if she was okay.

Tension surrounded Valhalla, covering everything like a thick blanket of dread. The blanket was suffocating and only grew worse as the weekend approached. The officials in every town and planet worried that they were missing something while trying to count everyone who was age fifteen and up. Hela had made it clear that she wanted the vote to be fair as possible and prevent all chances of it being rigged. People were advised to discuss with their family what they were going to do during the vote and to make an honest and confident decision.

Television news channels were talking nonstop about the vote and Hela's announcement. People who worked in the palace were sent home for the week to prevent the spread of gossip from being at the palace. Vincent spent most of his time pacing back and forth in the throne room, thinking quietly and getting upset whenever someone bothered him in a rare display of emotion from a usually stoic person.

Jormungandr and Mia kept getting together to hang out and talk about whatever was on their minds. Being together helped relieve some of the stress that both of them were feeling.

Sleipnir and Fenris barely left the garden, except to eat or sleep. Fenris needed to get outside and move around; Sleipnir was grateful for the much-needed distraction of keeping an eye on Fenris. It was nice seeing Fenris open up and act more like himself, although he usually quieted back down whenever they were in the presence of other people.

Pietro tried several times to talk to Hela but was always turned away by the guards. Reporters kept trying to ask him questions. It got to the point where Pietro had to walk around with a couple of guards who stopped anyone from getting too close to the prince. The other officials attempted to ask Pietro for his thoughts and what to do about the vote but Pietro always asked them to leave him alone because he had no clue himself. He might have sounded a little rude but he was tired of questions that he had no answers to and was way too stressed.

Just when Valhalla felt like it was on the verge of breaking from all the tension that pulled on it, the weekend finally came. Trillions of people flooded the voting areas, eager to finally do something beneficial. When everyone had voted, the officials counted and recounted the vote. Although it was a simple 'yes' or 'no' question on the voting ballot, it took a whole other day to make sure that the votes were accurate. The sheer number of people who voted also slowed down the process of counting, considering that Valhalla covered all planets and people who had lived in the entire universe.

A large gathering was held in the courtyard once the ballot was counted. Once again, it was packed. Helicopters hovered overhead, giving aerial footage of the results. A large row of cameras and reporters were set up in the front to capture immediate results. Those who could not come to the announcement watched at home from live footage.

Five chairs were set up on the far end of the platform to the right of the podium. A larger, throne-like chair was set in the middle of the chairs with two chairs on each side. Once again, Hela's palace officials and other important politicians were lined up on both sides of the courtyard, against the columns.

Two guards stood on either side of the podium, their faces expressionless. A couple more guards led Vincent, Pietro, and the boys onto the platform, all dressed in formal attire. Pietro and Jormungandr took the chairs on the right of the throne while Sleipnir and Fenris took the ones on the left. They remained standing while Vincent stepped up to the podium and eagerly looked off to the left of the platform.

The crowd immediately went silent as Hela stepped up onto the platform, making her first appearance since a week. She was dressed in a long, dark green dress and had her hair done. Even though she usually never wore makeup, she was notably not wearing any mascara, probably so that it wouldn't get messed up if she cried. She seemed paler than usual and was shaking ever so slightly.

People bowed respectfully as she passed and stood up once Hela was seated. Pietro and the boys sat down as well, feeling relieved that they could control their nerves easier by sitting. Hela folded her hands in her lap and stared at the platform, avoiding all the eyes who were focused on her. Pietro attempted to rest a hand on her shoulder but she flinched and he drew it away, deciding to dig his fingernails into his palms instead.

Vincent cleared his throat, bringing the attention of the crowd onto him. He leaned forward and spoke into the microphones.

"As you all have known and most likely experienced, this has been a very stressful week. A week ago, Queen Hela of Valhalla made an announcement where she wanted everyone aged fifteen and up to vote for her position on the throne. All of those eligible have answered and we have gone over the results several times," Vincent announced. He paused and glanced back at Hela.

Hela was biting her lip so hard that it started bleeding. Pietro offered her a tissue, which she gladly took without looking at him. Fenris was squeezing Sleipnir's hand so hard that Sleipnir struggled to keep a pained look off his face. Jormungandr was scanning the crowd, searching for Mia. He finally spotted Mia in the third row with Hayden. She was so short that Hayden brought a stool for her to stand on to see. Mia looked up at Jormungandr and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I am not going to keep you waiting any further," Vincent said, his voice wavering. He had raised Hela from when she was an infant; it broke his heart to see her like this - defeated and depressed.

Vincent shuffled through his notecards and pulled an envelope from the stack. He opened it and slowly unfolded it, his heart beating so fast that it almost hurt.

Taking a deep breath, Vincent looked back up at the crowd. Everyone was leaning forward in nervous anticipation.

"The results..." Vincent said, reading straight from the letter. His voice was strangely breaking and his throat refused to let in enough air. He swallowed and tried to push through it. "The results are in. According to the majority… ninety-eight percent of voters… wish to… keep… Queen Hela of Valhalla… as queen. She will remain as queen!"

A joyous cheer roared through the crowd. People threw their hats and other items into the air. It was like a favorite sports team had just won the tournament, people were hugging each other and crying tears of joy.

Vincent stepped away from the podium and collapsed into an open chair. Hela clamped a hand over her mouth, her other hand squeezing the tissue so hard that her hand turned white. Tears rolled down her cheeks, splashing onto her lap. Pietro gasped and immediately started coughing from the sudden rush of air. Jormungandr jumped up and punched the air in glee. Fenris finally let go of Sleipnir's hand and hugged him. Sleipnir sighed in relief, both from having feeling turn to his crushed hand and from hearing the results, and hugged Fenris back.

A guard asked Hela if she wanted to give a speech. Hela shook her head, still trying to process what was happening.

A chant slowly worked up through the crowd until it shook the courtyard: _Hela! Hela! Hela!_

Hela let out a strangled cry and turned to Pietro. She buried her face in his chest, ruining his white shirt as sobs racked her body. Pietro rubbed small circles on her back and held her quietly.

Vincent forced himself to step up to the platform. The cheering crowd quieted down enough for them to hear him.

"The Queen will not be giving a speech at this moment nor will she be receiving visitors. I ask that any questions be mailed in so that we can answer them in an official statement that will be released later this week. Thank you," Vincent stated and walked off.

Pietro helped Hela stand up and followed Vincent. The crowd cheered for Hela as they walked back into the palace, bowing again as she passed. Jormungandr, Fenris, and Sleipnir trailed closely behind, the cheers fading in the distance.

The group stopped in the throne room to rest. Everyone's hearts were beating fast with excitement. Hela clung onto Pietro, her knees weak and on the verge of collapse. Pietro led her to the steps and sat her down.

Tears streamed down several of their faces, the most shocking was Vincent. He had taken his hat off and was dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief.

"We're okay. Everything's going to be okay," Pietro muttered, mostly to Hela but everyone heard it.

"You're damn right," Jormungandr said, agreeing with Pietro for once. "I knew that you would win. The people love you, sis-"

A loud rumble suddenly shook the palace. A pebble dropped from the ceiling and plopped onto the floor. The lights in the throne room flickered.

"What was that?" Sleipnir asked. The joy in the room had vanished, replaced with dread.

"The crowd?" Pietro suggested.

"They wouldn't do something like that. Besides, the guards should be holding them back," Vincent said. "It's something else. I can feel it."

The lights flickered again and went out. Fenris whimpered and immediately pressed into Sleipnir's side.

"Something is trying to get into Valhalla," Vincent said, his voice dangerously low and ominous.

Hela's eyes widened and she clung onto Pietro. Pietro wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

The strong smell of mint flooded the room. A green fissure appeared in the middle of the throne, casting the group in a green glow. Jormungandr drew his dagger and stepped protectively in front of Fenris and Sleipnir.

The fissure grew and grew. It suddenly expanded and blinded the group in a sudden flash of light…

The group's visions slowly cleared but were left seeing spots. From where the fissure used to be stood a figure. The figure slowly came into focus.

A beautiful woman with long, light brown hair and a dark blue healer's dress stood breathing heavily. Her violet eyes were wide and she seemed startled.

"Who are you?" Jormungandr shouted angrily, his dagger raised.

The woman turned toward him. "Is this Valhalla?" she asked.

"It is," Vincent answered. "You are not dead; how did you get here?"

The woman stared nervously at Jormungandr's sharp dagger and wrung her hands. "I am so sorry for startling you. I was sent here by Loki."

"Loki?" Jormungandr hissed. "What does _he _want?"

"You know him," the woman stated rather than asked. "I understand if you seem a little hostile, especially since he is not liked by most. But I was sent here because he wanted to protect me and he thought that Valhalla would be the best place. He told me to ask for Hela, the queen. He said that she will help. Is she here?"

Vincent and Sleipnir stepped apart to reveal Hela sitting on the steps.

"He knows me?" Hela asked, her voice small and tiny.

The woman nodded. "He seems to trust you, even though he fought against you on Asgard. Asgard is gone and he believes that our people are in danger. He needs your help."

Jormungandr lowered his dagger but kept an eye on the strange woman.

"How do you know us?" Jormungandr questioned.

"Loki believed that something was wrong the moment he saw Hela. He believes that a curse was lifted when Odin, his adopted father, died. Suppressed memories came back and he says that he feels stronger and different. I know for a fact that I am feeling the same way. I may not have known you for very long but I know that something was done without his permission," the woman explained. She addressed Hela directly. "Hela, you are Loki's daughter. He does not blame you for what happened on Asgard. Instead, he wishes to make things right."

Sleipnir titled his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

"You know about us? And Odin?" Sleipnir asked.

The woman nodded. "I don't know the full story but I was there when Hela was separated from her brothers."

"'_Her brothers,'_" Jormungandr repeated. "You mean us?"

The woman's eyes widened even more. "Yes. I apologize for not recognizing you three right away; it has been far too long."

"That's nice," Jormungandr said sarcastically.

Sleipnir gave him a disapproving look before turning towards the woman. "I am sorry but could you explain who you are?"

The woman gave a small nod of her head. "Of course. My name is Sigyn," the woman said. "I am Loki's girlfriend."

**I am sorry about having so many characters in this story but there is one more coming in the next (and last chapter). I'm sure that many of you already know who it is. His side of the story will be revealed. ;) I plan on finishing this story before school starts. If you have a question, comment, or concern, feel free to leave a review. Other than that, I'll see you soon! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Whew! Last chapter! And I did get it posted before school starts. School starts tomorrow for me. Oh dear, my senior year. :/ My older brother just moved into his dorm Monday and is starting his first year of college tomorrow as well. His college is only a 30-40 minute drive away from where I live so it's not like I'm never going to see him. He's planning on visiting every weekend. I also plan on going to the same college when I graduate. I've got a couple of friends who are planning on going there, too.**

**Switching topics, this chapter is a lot longer than the others because it's the last one and I wanted to wrap everything up. This was one of my favorite stories to write and I so many ideas for further stories. Because of the length, this chapter did take a lot longer to write. But hopefully, this chapter will be enjoyable to read. :)**

**Chapter Fourteen: Forget About Me, I Love You**

"Girlfriend?!" Jormungandr exclaimed, causing Fenris to jump at the sudden outburst. "When did Loki have a girlfriend? Why didn't you do anything? You _left_ us-"

Sigyn wrung her hands and stood awkwardly. The group had introduced themselves so Sigyn knew who each of them was. She had never met Vincent nor Pietro before but she knew the kids. Well, at least she did when they were younger. The kids had grown up a lot, making her feel old even though she was not that much older than them. She was the same age as Loki and Loki had Sleipnir at a young age.

She bit her bottom lip while keeping an eye on Jormungandr's sharp dagger. The dagger reminded her of Loki and she could start to see the resemblance among the kids. All of them, except Fenris, had slender builds and pale skin. They all had dark hair, even though Jormungandr's green hair stood out among the group. Jormungandr, especially, reminded Sigyn of Loki because of the way he was standing and holding his dagger, just like his father. Hela looked like a female version of Loki while Sleipnir was very close as well. Although Fenris had a more athletic and broader build than his siblings, Sigyn could still tell that he was related to Loki because of his dark, curly hair. She couldn't tell at the moment what their personalities were like but they were probably very close to Loki's.

"Loki and I have been together for a very long time. He had gotten himself in a predicament on four separate occasions. I tried to help when Jormungandr was born, which is why the king - Odin - also had me present when he separated you four. I'm assuming that he didn't want anyone who knew about it to spread rumors. If I had known that it would turn out like this, I would have done something. You don't have to trust me but at least consider that Loki and I tried everything that we could," Sigyn explained.

"If he really cared, he would be here," Jormungandr said, stepping towards Sigyn. Sleipnir put a hand on Jormungandr's shoulder to hold him back from hurting Sigyn.

"It is extremely difficult to get even _one living_ person here, let alone two," Sigyn replied calmly. "Loki sent me here so that I can send a message and to protect me. He wanted to stay with his brother and the other refugees. I'm sure that he will try to visit once he believes that the threat has passed."

"What threat?" Hela asked. "You say that Loki...dad - whatever, wanted to protect you. Why? What could be worse than me?"

Everyone turned and stared at Hela pitifully. Seeing Hela so defeated and sad shocked Sigyn, especially since Hela seemingly changed into a whole other person since Asgard.

"Loki wouldn't give me a name," Sigyn explained. "He seemed scared, extremely scared. I have never seen him like that. If he's reacting like that, then something must be extremely wrong."

"Did he describe the threat?" Hela pressed. She was sitting up straighter now.

Sigyn shook her head. "For some reason, he was in a hurry. He didn't say much, other than that he was sending me to Valhalla and to ask for Hela's help. He never explained why."

The group looked at each other nervously. What could cause Loki, a known criminal, and fearsome sorcerer, to be scared?

Hela cleared her throat and stood up. "I will have to do some more research on my own. This threat must be huge. I'll check if anything has come up on Valhalla's radar. I have some ideas of what might be out there but I need to double-check and make sure before I do anything. I'd hate to do something too extreme or not enough."

"I understand," Sigyn said. "I wish that I could be of more help."

"It's okay. Things like this can be tough, especially if Loki - dad - was in a hurry," Hela said. "I'm guessing that you're staying. The guards will show you to a bedroom. Might as well make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you," Sigyn said with a small bow.

Hela nodded in return and slowly walked down the steps, her legs still shaking from earlier. Pietro stood up as well and helped Hela down the stairs. He let Hela wrap her arms around his waist to walk out of the throne room. Vincent followed closely behind, keeping a respectful distance back from the queen and prince.

A guard came into the throne room and beckoned for Sigyn to follow him. Sleipnir, Fenris, and Jormungandr also followed since their rooms were in the same direction.

The guard led Sigyn to an empty bedroom in a different but close hallway from where the boys were staying. Sigyn thanked him and went to close the door when there was a soft knock on the wood frame.

Startled, Sigyn turned around, her hand still on the door. Sleipnir stood there alone, picking at his left hand just like how Loki would always do whenever he was nervous. The similarities hit Sigyn hard and she had to blink several times to regain her focus.

"Yes?" Sigyn said.

"Can I talk to you?" Sleipnir asked. His stance was rigid yet Sigyn could sense the nervousness radiating off of him.

"Of course. Come in," Sigyn said and stepped to the side to let Sleipnir into the bedroom.

Sigyn closed the door behind him and opened her mouth to ask him what he was here for when he suddenly spoke.

"I want to start by saying that I'm sorry for Jormungandr's behavior," Sleipnir said. "It's just that he's not used to being around others and he's typically hostile towards new people. He's learning but it's taking a while."

Sigyn jerked her head back at the sudden apology. It threw her off balance mentally, making it hard to speak.

"It's-It's alright. I'm used to it. Loki, unfortunately, is the same way." Sigyn replied. Loki, of course, hadn't always been hostile or 'cold' towards other people. Most people usually depicted it as him not caring when, in all actuality, he was just quiet. Sadly, Loki had changed in the past few years and to the point where Sigyn couldn't tell if the old him was still there. After the attack on Asgard, she had seen glimpses of his normal, kind behavior when he was helping his brother. Hopefully, both Jormungandr and Loki will learn how to open up and behave better around other people.

Sleipnir relaxed at that and scratched the back of his head.

"Is there anything else that you wanted to say?" Sigyn asked when Sleipnir didn't continue.

Sleipnir started picking at his left hand again and looked up at Sigyn.

"I… we… the others may take a while to agree with me, but… I trust you. If you couldn't tell, we are going through a really difficult time right now. Things are hard, especially for Hela and it's nice having someone else here to help out even if we have to keep an eye out for more threats," Sleipnir said, his voice quiet.

"Oh," Sigyn muttered. Sleipnir looked extremely sad and on the verge of breaking down. Sigyn down on the edge of the bed and let Sleipnir sit next to her.

"Tell me about dad," Sleipnir said. "What is he like? How did you meet? What about the attack on Midgard? Why did he do that?"

Sigyn sighed and stared at the floor. Her worn-out shoes stuck out from the bottom of her dress; she really needed to get a new pair.

"I don't know why he attacked Midgard," Sigyn admitted. She thought that the attack was strange and uncharacteristic for someone who was usually quiet and avoided conflict. "Loki is - was - a quiet child growing up. He likes reading and studying. He was the smartest person in our lessons. The attack was… surprising. No one expected it, especially since he was presumed… dead."

Sigyn swallowed the lump in her throat at the memory of hearing that Loki had let go and fallen into the Void. At the time, it felt she had been stabbed in the heart. And he had almost died, a second time, on Svartalfheim. Sleipnir said nothing, just staring at her. The topic of Loki's several 'deaths' was too depressing so Sigyn changed the subject.

"We met while staying after our lessons. We ran into each other and we introduced ourselves. We had never really talked before but we knew each other since we were in the same group when we started taking lessons. We were not officially dating until he asked me at a spring dance to be his girlfriend," Sigyn explained, a fond smile crossing her face. "He's very romantic."

It was quiet for a while until Sleipnir suddenly spoke up.

"Are you two going to get married?" Sleipnir asked.

Sigyn blinked, once again thrown off by the sudden, random question.

"Well, we are rather young for that. Eventually, we were planning on doing so. Why?" Sigyn asked, looking at Sleipnir in confusion.

"I was wondering what I should call you," Sleipnir admitted. "Is 'mom' too weird?"

"I-I'm not your mother, Sleipnir," Sigyn said.

"But if you and dad are going to get married, then you will be. And from what I can tell, you two are close."

"If you want to call me 'mom', I suppose you could," Sigyn offered. It was a weird request, for lack of a better word. If she and Loki were going to get married, then she would legally be considered Sleipnir's mom, or stepmom.

Sleipnir smiled, even though it looked weak. Sigyn rested a hand on his shoulder and nodded at him, trying to comfort him without speaking. She could see how exhausted he was, his hazel eyes were sad and had dark circles under them. His shoulders were slumped.

"If you want to talk or anything, it's alright," Sigyn offered. "I'm here."

Another smile, this one bigger and less forced, tugged at the corners of Sleipnir's thin lips as he talked to Sigyn for the rest of the night. He had a lot to get off his chest and as the night wore on, Sigyn could see that Sleipnir was starting to feel better the longer he talked.

It was tough being the oldest since Sleipnir believed that he had to be strong for his younger siblings, to take care of them and to act as the anchor of their family.

Talking helped; it was therapeutic. Sigyn doubted that Sleipnir had the chance to talk to someone who would listen and sympathize with him. He, and the others, had certainly been through a lot, especially in such a short amount of time. No kid, or anyone for that matter, should have to deal with what Sleipnir and his siblings had gone through - no one. It was awful and Sigyn wished that she had known about it sooner. She wished that Odin had never separated the group, had never had abandoned them in such horrible situations, to grow up on their own, not knowing who they were.

She wished that they could figure out the threat that Loki warned her about and take care of it so that the kids could finally start to be happy.

/\/\/\/\/\

Happiness, like that, will ever happen.

A few days after Sigyn had arrived, there was news of Xandar, the home planet of the Nova Corps. Half of the people were slaughtered and a powerful object was stolen. Xandar was hopelessly outmatched against a powerful being, who was reported to be large, purple, and terrifying.

Hela immediately sent out a team of reapers to bring the souls of the dead to Valhalla. She had ordered several council meetings to discuss the being who attacked the ship and what to do to stop the warpath that the being was bent on.

They couldn't find a solution. The being was traveling fast and was heavily armed with powerful weapons. Hela had an idea of who the being was; she was hardly seen outside of the meeting rooms, doing anything she could to get some plan figured out.

Sigyn tried to help the new souls settle in. She was a healer but she was also good at helping people calm down. All of the people who came into Valhalla were terrified and had a hard time adjusting to the afterlife.

Sleipnir and Fenris helped out wherever they could, mostly moving anything that needed to be moved around to make room for the large numbers of people. Jormungandr found Mia and followed her around, helping her with her job as a healer. Vincent and Pietro were stuck in meetings all day long, on top of trying to coordinate the reapers' schedules.

The news was alive and buzzing with the appearance of the powerful being. Several conspiracy theories arose about what the being was trying to accomplish.

Then things went from bad to worse.

A week after Xandar, the Asgardian refugee ship was attacked from the same being. Half of the refugees were slaughtered. The ship was destroyed. The other half of the remaining survivors barely escaped. Hela sent out more reapers to bring in the souls.

One of the souls, in particular, hit harder than anything else. Vincent went out himself to bring the soul in. Hela knew about the person's death and kept it from the others, mainly because everyone was so busy but also because she couldn't figure out how to explain.

Loki was dead. Her dad was _dead_.

Out of all the ways to officially meet for the first time since she was born, she never expected to see him standing in front of her throne, his shoulders slumped and staring at the floor. His shoulder-length, black hair covered his face.

Vincent explained how Loki died. The powerful being had completely shattered Loki's neck in the most gruesome way that any of the Asgardian refugees had died. It was horrible and unexpected. The only thing that brought some light to darkness was that Loki had sacrificed himself to save his brother and the other Asgardians.

So, he had died a hero. A hero, not a criminal or murderer that many people claimed that he was always going to be. Sure, he may have committed horrible crimes but he had changed, moved on from his past mistakes that Hela had a feeling that he didn't have much control over.

The name of the being who killed him was confirmed - Thanos. Of course, it was Thanos. Hela had heard from him for centuries. Thanos had a 'thing' for her and they had met several times, although Hela tried to avoid him as much as possible. Thanos had explained his plan to her and had tried to recruit her assistance to collect all the Infinity Stones and to 'restore balance to the universe.' Hela had refused and had decided to stay in Valhalla where Thanos couldn't reach her.

Maybe it was a stupid decision to leave Thanos alone. Maybe she could have persuaded Thanos not to complete his plan. Maybe then Loki would be alive.

Vincent left Hela and Loki alone in the throne room. Hela stood up from her throne and walked down the steps and to Loki's - her father's - side.

"Dad?" Hela whispered, trying to get Loki's attention.

Loki looked up, his face streaked with tears. He looked disoriented and upset. "Hela?" he asked once his eyes focused on Hela's face.

"Yes, it's me, your daughter," Hela replied. It was strange calling herself that. Although they looked very similar, she had never gotten to know him. Vincent raised her from birth and she had never really met Loki. The time they fought on Asgard didn't count since she had no control over her mind.

"I have a… daughter?" Loki asked slowly. His eyebrows furrowed in thought as he tried to process it.

She had so many things that she wanted to say, so many questions that she wanted answers to. However, Loki was not in the right state of mind to be talking right now. She would have to take it slow so that he wasn't overwhelmed.

She explained a part of what happened to her, the boys, and Odin. Loki took it in and said nothing until she was done explaining. She kept it brief and pointed, not explaining everything because Loki didn't need to know all that right now.

Loki slowly lit up with recognition. Fresh tears pooled up in his vividly green eyes.

"Hela, I am so sorry for leaving you here alone. You just a baby," Loki apologized.

"It's alright. I mean, it wasn't your fault. It's Odin's. At least we are together now, even though I wish it was because of better reasons," Hela muttered. She wished she knew her father growing up. She wished that she could grow up like a normal kid instead of being shoved into a leadership position at a young age. She wished that she could have known her brothers sooner. Maybe if she had stayed with her family, then maybe she wouldn't have attacked Asgard.

The conversation was starting to waver so Hela changed the subject. She started leading Loki towards Sigyn's room while talking about how she had remodeled the place in an attempt to lighten the mood.

It didn't work.

The longer they were next to each other, the harder it was to talk and to hold herself together. She desperately needed something that would relieve the tension.

"Sigyn is here," Hela said.

Loki perked up at that.

"Thanos hasn't been able to reach us. Valhalla is safe...for now. We don't know the full extent of Thanos' powers, but if he gets the Soul stone, he'll be able to control both the living _and_ the dead," Hela stated gravely.

Loki bit his bottom lip, much like how Hela had used to do until Vincent had finally gotten her to stop. "But you do have the armies of Valhalla, do you not?" he asked.

Hela nodded. "If it comes to that extreme, it'll be like Ragnarok."

Loki stopped mid-stride. Hela had walked a few paces before she noticed her father wasn't next to her. Hela looked at Loki, a puzzled expression on her face. Loki made eye contact with his daughter, his own face set in a serious mask. "What happened on Asgard wasn't the _real_ Ragnarok, was it?" Loki questioned.

Hela took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She had never thought about that before. She had tried her best to forget about Asgard and her time there; it was too painful and fresh in her mind. Hopefully, time would make it easier to bear.

Loki continued, "Surtur was there, but the Gates of Valhalla was not opened. There was no army of the undead. Granted, you found the bodies buried under the castle, but they were not from Valhalla. You just reanimated their corpses, but they weren't full-fledged Valhallian warriors. It wasn't Ragnarok. Well, not all of it. The full prophecy wasn't completed."

"There's a prophecy?" Hela blinked in confusion.

"There's a prophecy for almost anything. The mortals got most of it correct with their myths of us. The prophecy is: _Everything has its end. A dawn to a new beginning. Fire and bone shall destroy the City of Gold. The Gates of Valhalla will open and life shall perish into chaos. Because for a beginning to start, something has to end,"_ Loki recited.

Loki spoke up before Hela could say anything. "There's also a prophecy for Th-Thanos." He had a hard time getting Thanos's name out like it was cursed or part of painful memories.

"What?!" Hela choked out. Out of all the time she had known of Thanos's existence and the several times that Thanos had tried 'asking her out', she had never heard of a prophecy or anything similar. However, maybe Loki knew more since he was older and more experienced than her.

Loki nodded, his green eyes blazing with renewed energy. "Yes. _Stones of infinite power will be collected. Dust and blood will spread through the universe. Half will fall. Half will stand. A former slave of a Titan has to rise up and defy an untimely death._ _Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives for the Titan only court's death."_

Loki suddenly gasped, eyes widening with sudden realization.

"_I'm _the only one who can stop Thanos! _I'm _the former slave! That's why Thanos killed me! He knew about the prophecy! He didn't want me standing in his way!"

Hela clamped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from letting out a yell of shock. "It can't be! You're dead! How can you take down Thanos?"

"I don't know," Loki admitted. He suddenly grabbed Hela's shoulders and looked at her dead in the eye. "We need to see Sigyn. She'll help us warn my brother."

Hela didn't say anything, just grasped her father's hand and took off running, pulling him towards a set of granite stairs and around several corners. Not looking where they were going, the two collided right into Sleipnir.

"Sorry. I wasn't paying attention. You alright?" Sleipnir asked. He fixed his hair and squinted at Hela and Loki. "Hela? Dad? Is that our dad?"

"No time to explain. We need to find Sigyn," Hela cut him off. "Go find Jormungandr and Fenris and meet us in the throne room."

Sleipnir nodded, but she had already taken off. Hela burst into Sigyn's room with barely a knock, startling Sigyn who reflexively reached for her sword on the table and swung it at Hela. The metal bounced off of Hela's side without a scratch on the young goddess.

Hela threw up her hands in surrender. "It's just me. We need y-"

Hela found that Sigyn wasn't standing where she was a moment before. Hela let her arms drop and she turned to find a shocking sight...

Sigyn had her arms wrapped around Loki's shoulders. Loki's own hands pulled Sigyn closer; the two of them locked in a tight, passionate kiss.

Hela faked throwing up, which caused the two to unlock lips. Both of their faces were streaked in tears with cheeks tinged pink.

Loki, still clinging tightly to his girlfriend, spoke up first. "Sigyn, we need your help…"

/\/\/\/\/\

They discussed their plan of action for several hours. Everyone, the boys, Pietro, Vincent, Sigyn, Loki, and Hela, were there. Fenris, once he had seen Loki, had run up to him and gave him a big hug. Loki had appeared to be shocked but he had hugged Fenris back. Fenris had spent the entire meeting by Loki's side, speaking up a lot more often and seeming to be a lot happier with Loki around. Jormungandr, however, had kept staring at Loki, probably figuring out whether or not he should trust him. Sleipnir avoided any eye contact with Loki and stayed close to Sigyn. Only Fenris, Sigyn, Vincent, and Hela trusted Loki; and rightfully so. He wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person considering that he was a known criminal.

Even though only half of them trusted Loki, they finally had some idea of what they could do to stop Thanos from completing his plan. It was risky and very dangerous but it was better than having half of the universe's population cut in half.

Exhausted from the long day, Hela walked to her bedroom. She needed a nap and some food. Everything seemed to be happening so fast and she had yet to get a break from when she came back from Asgard. So much was going on that it was stressing her out. It was hard to make decisions when she didn't know the answer.

Turning the corner, Hela spotted a figure on the balcony at the end of the hallway. Through the large glass door, Hela could see that the person was resting their arms against the railing, their back turned towards her.

Hela slowly slid the sliding glass aside and joined the person with a small 'hello.' The person turned and gave a tired smile.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" Loki said. His long hair and the floor-length cape was fluttering the gentle breeze. Stars dotted the night sky and lights from the city below flickered and shone. There were no clouds and the moon smiled down at them. It was peaceful even though the tension in Valhalla was so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

"Most nights are," Hela replied and leaned against the railing and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She crossed her legs at the ankles and looked up at Loki. He was several inches taller than her, making it hard to keep eye contact when she had to practically crane her neck to do so.

"Vahalla is a lot different from when I first came here," Loki admitted.

Hela raised an eyebrow. "When was that? I thought I made it hard for living people to come here."

"And yet, there are six living people here," Loki pointed out teasingly.

Hela rolled her eyes. "I hardly count since I'm the queen. And I didn't expect for Sleipnir to do something like that. I'm still trying to figure out how you got Sigyn here."

"After Odin passed away, I felt stronger. I think that Odin blocked a part of sedir when I was younger when he separated you and your brothers and suppressed our memories of each other."

"Why?" Hela asked.

"He might have been afraid of what I'm capable of. Or maybe it was because my sedir got me into trouble before and he didn't want a repeat of that," Loki explained. "I was messing around with sedir and a certain spell when I accidentally ended up here. It was because of that - and more graphic reasons - that you were born. If I hadn't messed up that spell, you wouldn't be here. None of you would be here."

Hela brought her head back in surprise. It kind of hurt to be told that she and her brothers were accidents, from her own father nonetheless.

"So we're mistakes?" Hela asked.

Loki shook his head and stood up straight, finally looking at Hela in the eyes. "Don't call yourself that. Unplanned, yes, but you are certainly not a mistake. Looking back, even though it was embarrassing and hurt at the time, I wouldn't change a damn thing," Loki stated firmly, shocking Hela at the bold statement.

"Of course, if I could, I would go back and make sure that Odin never interfered. Even though I was younger at the time, I wouldn't mind that I had kids. You're a gift, Hela. Valhalla needed someone who would shape it into the glorious afterlife that so many myths depict it as. Valhalla is _thriving_ under your rule. The last ruler was feared and unfair. You are trusted and loved by _your_ people."

"But I killed people," Hela said. Tears were forming in her eyes and she struggled to hold them back, telling herself that she wouldn't cry in front of her father. Or was he Hela's mother? Loki technically _did_ give birth to Hela but it felt weird to even think of calling him 'mom.' 'Dad' sounded a lot better even though it was new and strange to have a parent who could actually talk to Hela.

"You had no control over that. Your father, Death, killed people because he wanted to grow his collection and use the souls to gain control over the living. Death took advantage of someone who had no way to defend themselves. Stop blaming yourself," Loki said, alluding to what Death did to him. "I understand what it's like to not be in control of your mind. It's difficult and painful. Your memories are controlled by someone else and it's intrusive. You can't trust yourself because you don't know what is truly yourself or something that someone else fashioned."

"Is that what happened to you?" Hela asked hesitantly, uncrossing her arms and fiddling with her sleeves. "With Thanos?"

Loki flinched at the name, visibly afraid of Thanos. Something must have happened that Loki didn't want to talk about and it showed through his usually calm expression. Hela didn't press any further and dropped the subject as quickly as it was brought up.

Loki was the one who spoke up first. "How are you doing?" he asked, his face back to his normal, guarded mask.

"I'm managing," Hela said. It didn't matter how she was doing as long as Valhalla was fine. Sometimes she had to make sacrifices for her people, and that occasionally included ignoring her mental health. She knew it was unhealthy but she didn't have any other option.

"I doubt it," Loki said. "I heard about what did, with the vote. If you are doubting yourself that much, you should get help."

"From who?" Hela asked, her eyes burning from holding back her tears. "Vincent isn't that good at emotions, let alone acting as a therapist. Pietro, even though he cares and will try to help, doesn't understand what I'm feeling. And I don't want to bother Sleipnir with my problems. He's already struggling to keep himself together as it is; he doesn't need any more stress. Jormungandr is still learning how to act around people and Fenris is too innocent to deal with this. I hardly know Sigyn and you-"

"I understand, Hela," Loki said when Hela's sentence cut off. "I'm here if you want to talk about it. Talking helps sometimes. Go ahead and rant if you want. I don't mind."

At that, Hela broke. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks as sobs racked her body.

"I can't...I can't...it's too much. So many people died because of me. How am I supposed to deal with that?" Hela choked out through sobs and gasps of breath. Hela's knees gave out and she would have fallen if Loki hadn't caught her.

Loki gently lowered her to the floor and wrapped his arms around Hela's shoulders. Hela buried her head in his chest; he felt cool instead of warm. His strong arms held her, an anchor to reality.

"It's alright. I'm here." Loki whispered and sat down against the wall. He ran his fingers through her hair and held her tightly.

Hela curled up in Loki's arms and cried while Loki comforted her and played with her hair, just like how parents were supposed to do.

/\/\/\/\/\

Being the oldest of the family, Sleipnir felt like he had more responsibility than his younger siblings. He was the oldest and the one with the most experience; it was only natural that he was shoved into a leadership position. He had to take care of the others and be strong for their sake.

Sleipnir had tried to be hopeful, making himself believe that Loki wasn't as bad as everyone made him out to be. Odin had completely ruined that hope when the former king had explained what Loki had done on Midgard. With that information, Sleipnir's already conflicting thoughts became even more jumbled and harder to set straight.

Loki's death had hit Sleipnir a lot harder than he expected. He had come to Sigyn right away when he heard the news and cried with her. Sleipnir had a vision in his mind about how he would meet his father; they would talk and then everything would get better. He never took into account that Loki might be dead when they got to meet for the first time.

Sleipnir had spent the meeting in the council meeting room staring absentmindedly into the distance, only adding his input when he thought it was appropriate and accepted. He had stuck close to Sigyn, avoiding eye contact with Loki, because Sleipnir was still trying to figure out if he should trust the god of mischief. He knew that Jormungandr didn't, and honestly, Sleipnir didn't blame him.

Loki was a lot different than what Sleipnir had imagined. All of his memories with a dark-haired boy were happy and pure. The boy was innocent and cheerful, not an infamous criminal and depressed. Loki had looked extremely unhappy the entire time he was sitting in the meeting, his thoughts hidden from Sleipnir. Sleipnir had given up trying to understand Loki a while ago, deciding to focus on the plans that they had come up with to defeat Thanos.

Sitting in the dining hall, Sleipnir tapped the pencil against the table. An open notebook sat on the table in front of him, little notes and ideas scribbled down in his surprisingly neat handwriting. Sleipnir had tasked himself with coming up with better ideas on how to help.

He was sitting there for nearly an hour, his mind too distracted with thoughts of his father, when Loki walked into the dining hall. Sleipnir didn't notice at first, the doors were already wide open so he didn't hear anyone come in.

"What are you working on?" Loki suddenly asked, startling Sleipnir.

Sleipnir jumped and dropped the pencil. He had sat in silence for so long that any noise was unnatural to him. Reaching down while seated, Sleipnir fumbled around for the pencil. The darn thing had rolled out of his sight.

"Sorry for startling you," Loki said and offered the fallen pencil out to Sleipnir. Sleipnir took it from Loki's hand and set it back onto the table with a small nod of thanks.

"It's alright. I haven't accomplished much anyway," Sleipnir said, avoiding eye contact with Loki. Why was it so hard to look his father in the eyes? Was it the way that Loki radiated power? Or was it because Sleipnir was too exhausted to talk to Loki right now? Sleipnir's wound throbbed under his shirt, strangely more noticeable with Loki being there. He still hadn't gotten around to asking Sigyn about it. It hadn't healed completely and it still hurt if he moved too quickly. He tried to ignore the dull pain and stared down at his half-empty notebook page.

"Do you need any help?" Loki asked. He was still standing a little way from Sleipnir, giving Sleipnir some space. When Sleipnir didn't say anything, Loki continued, "I'm sorry. The door was open and I just saw you sitting here alone and assumed that maybe you needed help. I can leave if you want me to."

Sleipnir shook his head, never looking away from the notebook. "No, it's fine."

Loki took the offer and sat in the chair across the table from Sleipnir. He looked at the notebook and attempted to read it upside down.

"Been thinking?" Loki asked.

"Nothing really impactful has come to me," Sleipnir replied. "All options are horrible and dangerous."

"Well, what we are dealing with is extremely dangerous," Loki said.

"You have dealt with this before, right? This being - Thanos?" Sleipnir asked, forcing himself to look up at Loki.

Staring at his father full-on for the first time, Sleipnir started to see the resemblance. Loki had a sharp jawline and high cheekbones, just like how Sleipnir did. Loki's piercing green eyes shone out against his pale skin. His dark hair framed his face. Loki would have looked intimidating if his shoulders weren't slumped and if he didn't have dark circles under his eyes.

Loki, Sleipnir realized, looked extremely exhausted, like if he hadn't slept well. Even though Loki had a guarded expression and appeared to be fine, Sleipnir noticed that Loki appeared to be in some sort of pain; he could see it in Loki's eyes.

At the mention of Thanos, Loki flinched, ever so slightly but Sleipnir caught it. Leaning back against the chair and crossing his arms in front of his chest, Loki stared at the wall behind Sleipnir and nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes. Th-_he_ was the one who...who…" Loki's voice drifted off as his mind wandered, presumably to painful memories of whatever happened between Loki and Thanos. Sleipnir had no idea what the connection between the two was but it had to be something horrible if Loki faltered like this. Sigyn had explained to Sleipnir that Loki typically kept his feelings to himself. If Loki showed visible discomfort at the mention of someone's name, then it had to be a really painful memory that caused him to act like that.

"He killed you, right?" Sleipnir asked carefully and with a lot of hesitation. Loki flinched again but he nodded and switched his gaze over to Sleipnir.

"I never thought that he would do something like. He always told me that killing me was too merciful. He had to have a good reason for suddenly changing his mind after being so persistent about keeping me alive. I'm either a threat to him or no longer useful," Loki explained, his facial expressions turning into something distant.

"Apparently so," Sleipnir muttered and quickly jotted that little note down on his notebook. Thanos and Loki had a history, and from what Sleipnir could gather, Loki was on the lower end of the relationship, no matter how messed up that relationship was.

"Sigyn told me that you talked to her," Loki said, suddenly switching the subject.

Sleipnir could understand why Loki would want to get off the topic of Thanos, even though he had a limited amount of details. All that Sleipnir knew was that Loki had fallen into the Void after the fight with his brother on Asgard years ago and came back completely changed. Thanos had some part of that change; Sleipnir was torn between wanting to know exactly what happened and staying in the dark because whatever Thanos did to Loki had to be extremely graphic.

"Yeah" was all that Sleipnir had to say. He was too distracted by attempting to read Loki's facial expression to figure out what Loki was thinking to be bothered by giving a better answer.

"I understand if you are a little hesitant to trust me. If you need to trust anyone, trust Sigyn," Loki said.

"I do, it's just that I'm still trying figure out-"

"Don't stress yourself out about this. Your life is confusing and it's hard to deal, I understand. Having everything that you've ever known and learning that it's all a lie. I wish that I could be of more help but I cannot do much until you let me. Take your time and we'll get there in the long run. I know that maybe this isn't the way that you imagined that we would meet; it's certainly not how I envisioned it, but we cannot change the past. You can talk to me if you want, but there is no rush to do so."

Sleipnir set the pencil back down onto the table and sighed. "It's hard being the oldest. You have to be strong for everyone else because they look up to you. They expect me to have the answers but I don't. I don't know anything. I don't know how to help," Sleipnir admitted.

"Maybe you should work on helping yourself first. It's not selfish to take care of yourself. Everyone needs a break and everyone has a breaking point. Don't push yourself too hard and don't feel upset when you can't solve everyone's problems. You are still young, you shouldn't have to deal with this.

"If you want to blame anyone, blame me. I brought this upon you and I wish that I could go back and change it. Odin should have never interfered in the first place. Parents should never let their children go through what you have. This never should have happened to you," Loki said, sounding extremely regretful and sad. "Hopefully when all of this is over, we can focus on being a family again. Even though I'm stuck in Valhalla, you and your siblings can go with Sigyn and visit me whenever you want to."

Sleipnir furrowed his brows at that. "You aren't living with us?"

Loki shook his head. "I cannot leave Valhalla. My soul is tied here and this is where I'm going to be for the rest of eternity. You don't belong, Sleipnir. You deserve much better than this, a life outside of Valhalla. Maybe you can go with my brother and find somewhere to live on Midgard. We were planning on building a village on Midgard before we were attacked. Even though I cannot be there myself, you can."

"But I want you to stay!" Sleipnir exclaimed, his eyes filling with tears at the thought of not being able to live with Loki. "Why can't we live together, as a family? Are we destined to suffer like this forever? I thought that you were going to marry Sigyn and then we can all live together with Hela and Fenris and Jormungandr as a… as a family, a normal family!"

"Sleipnir, I _physically_ cannot go anywhere. Valhalla will always be here; go out and see the universe, go experience what it's like living," Loki insisted.

Sleipnir reached across the table and grabbed Loki's hand. Loki jumped a little but allowed Sleipnir to hold it.

"Don't go!" Sleipnir pleaded. "I need you! Dad, I _need_ you!"

Loki sighed and placed his free hand over Sleipnir's. He stared into Sleipnir's shining hazel eyes. Tears streaked down Sleipnir's thin cheeks as Loki's oldest child cried in a rare display of emotion. Sleipnir could finally let out everything that he had been bottling up for the sake of his younger siblings. He didn't care if Loki saw him like this, begging for his father to stay and help. Sleipnir was so close to getting his dream but Loki was stuck in Valhalla. Sleipnir knew that it was stupid to attempt to change something that couldn't be changed but he couldn't help but plead.

"I don't make any promises but we will have to see what happens after we sort out this threat first. I am done hurting you; I will not do anything that you wouldn't want but eventually, you will have to learn how to let go."

Sleipnir sobbed and rested his forehead against the table. His dad was sitting across from him, holding his hands but it felt like Loki was so far away. It was like Loki was drifting away, Sleipnir's hopes were drifting away. After everything that he had been through, he thought that surely he had suffered enough. Why did he have to lose his father after they barely met?

Loki's cool hand was an anchor to the truth, the truth that Sleipnir didn't have enough strength to face. But he didn't have to face it alone. For the first time in countless years, Sleipnir wasn't alone. He had younger siblings, a mother figure, and his father who he had been trying so hard to find and finally meet. He had a family and they were going to face all these hardships together.

/\/\/\/\/\

Jormungandr had spent the whole night tossing and turning in his bed, rethinking everything that he said and did during the meeting earlier. He had snapped at Fenris and it made him feel guilty for hurting someone who was innocent and did nothing to make Jormungandr mad.

Sure, Jormungandr knew that he had issues acting around people. That still didn't justify how he had acted, especially towards Fenris. Jormungandr had been upset and a little defensive during the meeting because Loki was there.

His _dad_ was there and Jormungandr still hadn't figured out what he thought of Loki. Hela seemed to trust him as well as Vincent and Sigyn. Fenris, the poor child, had stuck close to Loki the whole time and had almost seemed relieved with having Loki around. The youngest boy had even started to act more like his old self, talkative and looking a lot happier.

Maybe Jormungandr was being paranoid. Maybe not. Fenris typically trusted people easily so maybe his perspective was a little askew. However, Vincent appeared to trust Loki. And, for the time he knew the reaper, Vincent wasn't the type to trust people easily. Vincent and Loki had some sort of history and Jormungandr was set on trying to figure out what it was.

And, if possible, to hear Loki's side of the story. Jormungandr decided that it was the least he could do, at least give Loki a chance to explain himself because Jormungandr wasn't going to trust his criminal father without doing his own research.

Somehow, Jormungandr found himself out in the garden that morning. It was becoming a favorite spot of his. He didn't really like flowers but Mia liked the garden and they usually met there. Mia, however, was busy today so Jormungandr was just absent-mindedly wandering the garden alone, lost in his thoughts. He kept replaying and revising what he would say when he got the chance to confront Loki. He decided that he would get straight to the point right away and avoid any distractions. He would have to be calm about it and to control his temper, something that Sleipnir said that Jormungandr needed to practice.

All of his planning went straight down the drain when Jormungandr tripped over a loose rock and stumbled. A hand reached out and steadied him. Jormungandr looked up to see Loki staring back at him.

"Back off!" Jormungandr shouted and yanked his arm from Loki's grip. Loki took a step back and held up his hands in surrender.

"And what did I ever do to you?" Loki questioned, his green eyes staring sternly down at Jormungandr.

"How about what you _didn't _do. That's the real question," Jormungandr snapped.

"Jormy…" Loki muttered.

"Don't call me that! Only Sleipnir gets to call me that," Jormungandr hissed.

"I _gave_ you that nickname!" Loki exclaimed. "I think you should calm down."

Jormungandr shook his head and reached for his dagger on his belt. His temper was rising to a dangerous level and he refused to reign it back in. He unsheathed his dagger and lunged at Loki. Loki sidestepped Jormungandr and caught Jormungandr by the wrist. Loki twisted Jormungandr's wrist, forcing Jormungandr to drop the dagger.

The dagger clattered onto the stone pathway and Loki kicked it into a nearby rosebush.

"You tense up when you are about to strike," Loki stated calmly, still holding onto Jormungandr's wrist. "Most enemies will see that."

"I don't care!" Jormungandr shouted and tried to elbow Loki with his free arm.

"I don't understand why you are so angry," Loki commented as he dodged Jormungandr's attack and kicked Jormungandr's feet out from under him.

"Because you left me to survive on my own!" Jormungandr hissed through clenched teeth as he got to his feet.

"How many times do you need to be told that I didn't have a choice?" Loki asked, his arms folded casually in front of his chest.

Oh, how Jormungandr wanted to punch Loki in the jaw for mocking him. He had fought in the arena on Sakaar and won several times, Jormungandr wasn't about to be defeated easily by a stupid criminal.

Jormungandr advanced towards Loki, attacking in a flurry of punches. Loki caught and deflected every one of them, almost as if it was just an annoying task that he had to accomplish. Loki had to back up into the grass from Jormungandr's onslaught, calmly walking backward while staying focused on Jormungandr.

"I had to live off of rats and any edible thing that I could find, just so that I could lie to see the next day," Jormungandr shouted out through each attack. He tried to kick Loki but just ended up tripping. He stumbled a bit before catching himself and going right back at Loki. "How could you tell me that you didn't have a choice when I didn't ask for this?!

"My life has been nothing but pain! I've had to endure living alone for most of my life. I had to fight in an arena for some creepy, old man. Sleipnir almost _died_ because of me! I didn't ask for this. I wish I was never born!" Jormungandr shoved Loki away and turned his back towards his father, breathing hard from his failed attack.

"Don't say that," Loki said from behind Jormungandr.

"I did and I mean it," Jormungandr muttered, his fists clenching tightly at his sides as he tried to focus. His vision was blurred, either from anger or from the burning sensation in the back of his eyes.

"We're nothing but products of your mistakes, that you made not once, not twice, but _four_ times! It would have been better if you had learned the first time and decided to not let us experience a living hell."

"I didn't have a choice, Jormungandr. I would have tried to get into a better situation had I been given the chance. I only knew where Hela was going because I asked Vincent to take care of her. Your fate and your brothers' fate was completely unknown," Loki said, sounding tired.

"How am I supposed to believe a murderer?" Jormungandr questioned with a hostile tone lurking underneath. "Or are you going to tell me that you 'didn't have a choice' in that either?"

"I chose to let you live. I made a decision for a living being who was too young to make their own, just like how parents are supposed to do. Yes, I had messed up several times but I took responsibility for it. I owned up to my actions and tried to give you and your siblings the best life I could have given. And, unfortunately, it didn't work out the way I wanted.

"Because of Odin, I missed out on so many life experiences that parents get to witness with their children. I missed out on Hela's first words and her first steps. I missed out on playing with you and your siblings. I missed out on teaching you how to read. I missed out on your first friends, your first love, so many firsts that I will never get to experience. I never got the chance to educate you or to teach you life lessons that parents need to teach their children. If given the chance, I would go back and change all that, but I would keep you and your siblings alive. You had so much potential, so many things that you could have experienced," Loki confessed.

"Trust me or not, hate me or not, just know that I love you and I would do anything to fix this," Loki said.

Jormungandr gritted his teeth and thought about what Loki said. His chest rose and fell with his temper until it became unbearable. Whipping around, Jormungandr punched Loki straight across the jaw. Loki stumbled backward from a mixture of the force and surprise, only to be hugged immediately after by Jormungandr.

Jormungandr wrapped his arms around Loki and sobbed into his chest. "I'm sorry…"

Loki slowly hugged Jormungandr back, embracing his son in a gentle yet firm hug that bridged the gap between father and son.

"You are not the one who needs to apologize, I do," Loki muttered. "I never wanted this for you."

"Tell me everything," Jormungandr whispered. "I want to know everything, about you, about what happened on Midgard, about what Odin did. I want to know the whole truth. I want to trust you."

Loki led Jormungandr to a nearby bench and sat him down. They spent the rest of the morning talking and slowly getting to know each other. Loki explained his side of the story, how he had tried to get Odin to stop, to keep the kids together. He explained the attack on Midgard after much prying from Jormungandr.

At the end of it, Jormungandr knew that Loki was telling the truth. Loki may have been the god of mischief and lies but he was someone who was painted in a bad light. There were so many things that people didn't know about Loki and so many things that people just assumed.

Jormungandr was done assuming. It didn't help and it only made things worse. Hopefully, things will get better with having his dad around, like having a strong rock in a stormy sea.

He had a dad, and even though they had so many things that they needed to fix, their relationship was repairing and was bound to become something great. They were going to be just fine.

/\/\/\/\/\

The weather was beautiful. Fenris had spent the entire day outside in the garden. He had attempted to go with Jormungandr but Jormungandr had shrugged him off and wandered around by himself. Sleipnir had wanted to stay inside so Fenris was alone in the far side of the garden, rolling around in the grass and watching butterflies flutter among the flowers.

Sometime in the afternoon, Loki had joined Fenris and they played catch with a small ball that Loki summoned using his magic. Fenris had stared open-mouthed as Loki pulled the red, rubber ball out of nowhere and had asked Loki to do more magic. Loki had refused, saying that he would save it for another time. Fenris also noticed a dark bruise forming on Loki's jaw but he didn't ask about it, deciding that it wasn't important.

Together, they played catch in the open grass, shaded by a ring of trees. The sun shone through the leaves, casting light into the clearing in streams.

Although Fenris was a generally happy person, he had talked to Loki about how he was feeling. It was strange, being left alone in a dark room surrounded by dead bodies and then suddenly being transported into an entirely different realm with siblings that he didn't know he had. Loki had apologized several times, even though Fenris didn't blame. He was just happy to be with his dad again.

They had gotten past all the sentiments and were now laughing as they played catch. Loki had taken off his cape and draped it on a bench so that he could run better to catch Fenris's long passes. It was starting to get a little warm, even though they were in the shade, with all the running around.

"Go long!" Fenris shouted from a distance. Loki obliged and backed up several feet. Fenris threw the ball and it sailed through the air.

Loki looked up to catch it, only to be blinded by the sun. It was too late to see where it went. The ball hit Loki right in the face, a second before Loki reached up to catch it. Loki let out a small yelp and fumbled with the ball before it dropped to the ground.

Jogging over, Fenris picked up the ball from the ground and tried to hold back his giggles. "Sorry," Fenris apologized.

Loki waved his hand, dismissing the apology. "It's alright. I'm used to it. My brother tended to be a little rough whenever we used to play together. Getting hit in the face with a rubber ball is nothing," Loki replied.

Fenris laughed and tossed the ball up into the air. Loki held his hands out, silently asking for the ball. Fenris tossed it to him and Loki passed it back. They did this for a while, backing up each time until there was a significant amount of distance between them.

On one pass, Fenris caught it and tossed it right back. Loki reached out to catch but was suddenly thrown off balance by a sudden earthquake. The ball hit Loki in the side of the head again, bouncing off and landing onto the grass.

But neither of them took heed. The ground shook underneath them as a loud rumbling filled the still air.

"What was that?" Fenris asked, his mouth dropped open.

"I don't know," Loki said.

Another tremor rolled through the ground, causing the two to fall in sync. Fenris let out a cry of surprise as he landed on his backside.

"What's happening?" Fenris exclaimed.

"We should probably get inside," Loki said and scrambled to his feet. He helped Fenris and the two struggled to get inside, the rubber ball left bouncing and rolling in the clearing.

They fell a couple more times as they ran through the garden. They found Jormungandr clutching onto the fountain, trying to keep his balance. Loki offered a hand and Jormungandr took it. Loki yanked Jormungandr to his feet and the trio took off running into the palace.

Screams of surprise and fear echoed through the palace walls. Loki led the two boys into the throne room. Hela, Pietro, Vincent, Sigyn, and Sleipnir were already there. Hearing the trio enter, the other group turned towards them.

"What is going on?" Loki asked. Fenris left Loki's side and quickly pressed up next to Sleipnir. Sleipnir wrapped an arm around his younger brother protectively.

"I think it's Thanos," Hela said.

A screen the size of a regular television floated in front of the throne. The semi-transparent screen showed an image of a battlefield. Dead bodies made up of a combination of humans and strange, grotesque creatures littered the open field. Smoke curled up into the air from the small fires that dotted the field.

"It's on Midgard," Hela said. "Thanos is on Midgard."

"He has the stones!" Loki exclaimed. "He has the stones! What else could be causing this?"

Another shockwave ripped through Valhalla, knocking the group off their feet. The screen flickered and switched to a different angle of the battlefield. People were slowly turning into dust, seemingly at random.

"NOOO!" Hela shouted. "That stupid, bastard! NO!"

Thanos had done it. He had completed his life long goal of 'balancing' the universe. That single snap was like billions of lives breaking. A wave of power washed through the universe, shaking Valhalla in its path of terror, choosing its victims randomly and leaving behind a trail of dust.

All their plans were ruined. Any hopes of being together as a family was completely obliterated by that single snap.

They had lost.

**To Be Continued...**

**Hopefully, everything made sense. I thought that made sense to me but you don't know what my ideas were. That being said, this story ties right into my other story "_Resurrection." _Feel free to check that out for a 'continuation' of this one. Thank you for everyone who has left a review, follow, or favorite. I truly love your support and it makes me feel happy that people are actually reading my writings. I plan on writing a book when I graduate college (although I have to finish high school first). Constructive criticism is appreciated and welcomed. Feel free to leave a review if you have a comment, question, or concern. Thanks again and stay tuned for my next story! :) 3**


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